The Line Between Black and White
by Shieb
Summary: Janus, the god of many faces, has had his name bestowed upon a thief who enjoys a different persona with each job she performs. While the Titans chase after this faceless criminal, Slade is plotting something that will shake Jan's very existence.
1. Great View

This was a great view. Jump City was lit up beautifully, with the street lights bordering the areas where cars, only their tail and headlights visible, ran. A few windows were still lit, creating odd patterns that were seemingly random. Yes, this was definitely a great view.

'_Still.'_ The girl thought as she looked up. _'It's not as great a light show as the sky.'_

The city below was so full of light that not that many stars were present above. But at this height, many were in sight. High on a city tower definitely was the best place to have a view in the city.

'_Alright. Time to get to work.'_

She had put it off enough. The girl, her form darkened and blending easily with the shadows due to her dark suit, turned and found an easy way into the expensive skyscraper. Sure, she could walk in through the front door instead of breaking in through an air shaft. But that wouldn't be very discreet, now would it?

Entrance into the building was relatively boring. If she wasn't getting the usual surge of adrenaline from doing what she wasn't supposed to be doing, she would have stopped paying attention to where she was. She may have even missed her exit, which she kicked free before dropping into the room below.

A quick scan revealed nothing of true importance in the room. It was large and held much technology at its walls. In fact, the alarm was probably going off right about now. Oh well, it wasn't as if the girl would be here long enough to meet the police.

She walked to the edge of the room, where a computer was. Her fingers moved quickly on the keyboard, and then she pulled a thumbdrive out of the tight fabric of her suit.

"Quite a view." She mumbled as the data downloaded onto the drive. She could feel the device on her throat vibrate, tickling slightly as it changed the way her voice sounded.

When the bar was full, the drive was retrieved. The girl turned and was about to make her way out the way she came in, but found five figures obstructing her path. Go figure. They always showed up in the middle of a job.

"You know, if you're looking for a view, I'd suggest the lookout on the edge of town." Robin said, a confidant smile on his face. He was wearing the usual costume with his cape fluttering in a nonexistent wind and the mask covering his eyes, which was supposed to throw shadow to his identity.

"But since that doesn't seem to interest you-"Cyborg charged up his cannon of a right arm, which was now glowing blue. Half his body was mechanical, and the human parts showed dark eyes and skin.

"-I guess we'll just have to show you the inside of a jail cell." The green kid pounded a fist into his open palm. Beastboy was the oddest looking of the bunch, not only because of his skin color, but also because of his pointed ears and sharp fangs.

The girl smiled even though the Titans wouldn't be able to see beyond the mask. She lifted up the drive so that they could see it, and then slipped it into her suit from an opening they wouldn't be able to see from there. The boys had rather modest reactions as she stuffed it into her bra. None of them ever failed to amuse her.

Starfire came first, her starbolts glowing on her hands. She threw them, and their sparkling green light missed the thief by inches. The girl in black twisted her body with precision as she avoided every blow. A computer from the wall, encased in black energy and eight feet tall, slid forwards from behind her, and the thief executed a perfect back flip that cleared the tower by at least another foot. Then Cyborg took his turn, firing his weapon to distract the fugitive while Robin shot one of his bird-a-rangs, or whatever they were called. It was only a quick spin on her left heel that allowed the explosive and sharp device to pass by the girl without harming her.

The thief spun and dashed, eventually jumping high enough to get away from the Titans that had crowded around her, trying to cut off her maneuverability. The sound of a growl immediately attracted her attention, and the girl turned just in time to see a green tiger leaping at her. There was the sound of claws upon metal, and the tiger showed obvious surprise when it realized that a blade coming from the girl's elbow was stopping its attack. The sound of another one protruding from the other elbow alerted it just in time to get out of the way of cold steel.

She didn't have the time to even pause. Robin came at her with a staff, forcing her to immediately engage him in battle. The two traded blows for a good few seconds, adding in martial arts moves here and there to try and catch the other off guard. Another sound eventually warned the girl to jump, and she just barely cleared the green blur that passed under her. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to avoid Robin's next hit, which sent the thief tumbling across the floor.

The girl hit the wall. She got up quickly, but suddenly found her feet were now encased in black energy. A glance revealed Raven concentrating a few feet away. Cyborg and Starfire now stood side by side, raising their energy-based weapons. It seemed the thief would not be allowed a way out of this blow. Green and blue mixed with each other, and the target lifted her arms.

Not only did the thief have blades that protruded from her elbows, but with a swift movement, jagged blades stuck out from her lower arms as well. They looked sharper than the other ones she had used. With a sudden, downward stroke, the energy before her split and instead created a lot of dust by striking the walls to either side of her.

All five Titans waited nervously outside of the dust cloud, trying to see into it. Not that it mattered; all of them had the girl surrounded. There was definitely no way she would make it past them.

Wrong.

A quick toss of an explosive blade and a lot more debris later, another hole into another shaft system was opened, and the dark form of the thief leaped into it, making her escape quick. She followed the lines until she finally spotted a decent opening, through which she could see the city lights. Unfortunately, the opening she kicked the slotted door from was also on the side of the building. Edgily, she looked down. There were still many stories separating her from the ground.

The Titans, almost on cue, appeared before her. They were all flying in some form, although Raven was the only one flying solo, her hands glowing with a black energy. Starfire was holding Robin, who was ready with some of his projectiles in hand. Beastboy seemed to have turned into a pterodactyl and was grasping the shoulders of Cyborg, who still had his distance weapon charged.

"You can't escape from this height!" Robin shouted. The wind was giving him a little trouble.

"Just turn yourself in now!" Cyborg said.

"You're not getting out of this." Raven spoke with a monotone voice.

The girl smiled from behind the mask again. She had never failed a job yet, and she wasn't planning on it, either. This building wasn't scary, and neither were they intimidating.

She raised a few explosive blades so that the Titans saw them, and then threw them. The five scattered before the bombs went off, and then the thief was diving from the smoke. Wind went by so quickly that she couldn't hear anything other than the air pounding against her eardrums. She supposed the Titans would be rushing after her, so she twisted her body in the air.

Now the girl was looking at herself in the reflective surfaces of the building she had just stolen from. No hair flew from her. Instead, her form was restricted to a thin, skin-tight suit of black and a featureless, equally black mask. Not even her eyes shone through the blank surface.

'_Focus.'_ The girl thought to herself, seeing a green starbolt fly past her. She had to spin out of the way of Robin, who had tried to drop onto her, and Starfire, who raced after him. Then she focused on her reflection again.

'_This is where you are. Picture where you want to be.'_

She closed her eyes briefly, doing as she told herself. When she opened her eyes again, she could barely hear Raven muttering the words to her sorceries. But right in front of the thief, the glass of the building was undulating as if it were water. She reached forwards, feeling her hands go through the cool surface of the glass as she fell, and her fingertips latched onto something hard. With a mighty heave, she pulled herself through.

It was like being given a brief, extremely cold shower. And then she was flying into a room with all the force of her fall, her head smacking loudly on someone's desk. The girl groaned in pain, but forced herself to get up. Rubbing the back of her head, she noticed that she was in her boss' office, and in front of her was a mirror. Wait. She had come through a mirror?

"That's not right." The girl muttered, her voice still changed. "Oh well. I guess an underground hideout wouldn't have any windows for me to jump through."

"W-what are you doing here?" Someone spluttered.

**Shieb: This seems to be a far cry from other stuff I've written, and it's on purpose. I just want to let everyone know that this will NOT be regularly updated or given a lot of attention unless it's given a lot of comments or whatever by the readers who want it to continue quicker. This is also a lot more combat-oriented than most of my other stuff, and that's why I chose Teen Titans- because it was a favorite show when I was little, and there is a lot of battle that I can take advantage of.**


	2. Warrior With One Eye

The thief turned to see that she was not alone in the room. Standing behind the desk was a man who looked both unclean and rat-like. He was beginning to bald and his 'business clothes' looked shabby. He was the thief's 'boss', the man who told her what jobs to take and what to do about them. More than anything, he was the broker of deals. It was his duty to find jobs and deal them out to the appropriate thieves, workers, and assassins. In return for giving them work, he would get a piece of their revenue.

Also in the room was a man that was quite unlike the broker. He was tall and muscular, his suit showing a wide chest and strong arms. The suit was black and was adorned with buckles and straps that probably held interesting technology. Metal pieces almost looked like they had been bolted onto him and his suit on his arms, shoulders, and neck. But his mask was what the girl was focused on. It was half orange and half black, and the black half had no place for an eye.

"I thought I'd escape through a window, but it didn't turn out quite like I'd imagined it." The thief said nonchalantly, pulling her gaze away from the stronger individual in the room.

She frowned at her faked voice and pulled off her mask so that she could reach the voice changer, which she turned off. Long gray hair spilled down to the girl's lower back, and she looked to be no older than 17. Pale blue eyes, often mistaken for gray, then glanced between the two adults.

"I see I've interrupted a meeting. Sorry, I didn't mean to." She said, starting for the door.

"Actually, we were just talking about your assignment. Did you complete it?" The boss said, sounding anxious.

The thief turned to him, giving a smirk.

"Of course I completed the assignment. When have I not?"

"Well, Mr. Slade here seems to think that we've stolen his property." The boss said almost greasily, glancing between Slade and his thief-for-hire.

"Well, maybe Mr. Slade would be smart enough to hire one of us next time. Then we could guard or steal whatever he may otherwise lose." The girl said, smiling charmingly.

"Your organization has been creating quite a lot of interest lately, Mr. Graham. How long do you think it will last?" Mr. Slade asked. His voice was quiet; it sent shivers down the thief's spine.

"Is that a threat?" Graham said tensely.

The girl turned to fully face both of the men in the room, although her gaze was fixed on Mr. Slade. Working under Graham, she was not only a thief, but a bodyguard. She mainly worked for money, but following some of Graham's orders was better than getting bitched at by him. Usually, anyways.

"No, it was a question." Slade said. His voice was almost mocking. "Logically, even a budding enterprise like yours cannot last too much longer. Something will happen that will bring it down."

The boss glared. He didn't like Slade anymore, and he wanted him out of the building. Still, Mr. Slade was a possible customer and was very skilled at combat. It wouldn't be wise to just demand him leave or try to force him.

"Jan, do you have it with you?" Graham said finally.

The girl nodded her head and reached inside her suit, pulling out the drive to show them both. Graham made a face.

"If our customers knew where you kept their priceless pieces-"

"I might make them pay more." Jan said, smiling slyly. "Besides, I only did it to get a reaction from the Titans. And they didn't disappoint."

The balding man shook his head, sighing. Then he turned his attention to Slade, whose patience was fading away by the second. Jan could feel it in the air, but she was unsure if Graham was as aware.

"This information will go to the person who bought it from us. You can have your arguments with them, if you wish." Graham's words sounded final, but Slade had begun eyeing the drive.

"How about this instead?" Slade said smoothly. "If I can _take_ that drive from your thief, I will also take it with me out of this place."

Slade looked calmly at Graham. Graham didn't seem to be able to come to a conclusion, so both he and Slade looked at Jan. Graham did this a lot, although he would never admit it. Jan may work for him, but she had also forced a measure of control from him, as well as earned a certain amount of respect.

"Doesn't sound very interesting." Jan said finally. Sure, this guy looked tough. But just because you could fight didn't mean you were worth any attention.

The only clue the girl got was the slight narrowing of Slade's eye. In the next instant, his foot was sweeping through the air, forcing her to duck. The drive was again shoved into her clothing, and then she leaped in the air to avoid a kick at her legs. Jan landed next to the door and hurried past it. The office wasn't big enough to fight in. When she saw Slade giving chase, she turned and ran down a small hallway, the scent of damp stone making her want to choke.

Jan turned sharply down a hallway and entered a large area just in time. Slade was faster than her, and his hand reached out to grab her shoulder. The fabric of her suit was slippery, however, and he only managed to grab a fraction of it and toss Jan to the side. The girl landed cat-like on her feet. Quietly, she viewed her opponent. He watched her carefully, ready for any attempt to flee.

Jan wasn't going to flee. She had needed more space than a small office and hallway could offer, that was all. Now they were in an abandoned subway station. It was vast in size, offering much in the way of maneuverability. Some people, old, young, or weak, leaned against walls or sat in the shadows, making themselves scarce. They waited for work from Graham for days, sometimes weeks at a time with no food and no money. It was no wonder that the lot of them turned their attention upon Jan, the star of the underground workers, and Slade, a man who was known all over the underground as a man who was strong, vicious, and who always got what he wanted.

"Taking it from me is kind of boring." Jan shifted her weight a little. "There's so much potential for you to just grab it and leave like a boring old man. How about you beat me in a battle instead? Then I'll just hand you the drive."

"Jan, what are you doing?" Graham shouted from the hallway. He had followed the two, and now he was almost crying at the thought of how much money he was losing.

"I have three more jobs this week, Graham." Jan smiled. "They'll more than pay for what I might lose here today."

"Don't waste my time with games. You'll get hurt, little girl." Slade said. His eye was narrowed unhappily.

"I honestly can't believe that you aren't ready to use all your energy for even the simplest of tasks." Jan said.

If Slade was as good as they said, then yes, he would know that he would beat Jan just as well as she knew. But then, if she threw him a loop and forced him to do a little more than he had originally intended, she was sure he would put in just that much more effort, despite what he 'should have' been putting in. As if it mattered to him. Jan could see him decide just to take the drive right before he ran towards her.

The girl leaped in the air, deciding to avoid him for a time and just watch him. But then his hand shot out and grabbed her leg as she tried to dive over him, and her whole body was jerked to the side. Jan was released, and she felt herself twist in the air so that her feet touched on the side of a pillar that stood in between train tracks. From there, she removed what exploding blades she still had left from her suit and threw them at Slade, who had followed her onto the train tracks. The explosion caused more smoke than flames, but Jan took the moment to extend and then disconnect one of the swords from her elbow and toss it into the smoke, where she remembered Slade being last. There was the dull sound of her blade hitting stone, making the girl frown. But she didn't move after she landed on the ground. She wasn't going to go into that smoke and just get herself ambushed.

A familiar blade streaked out of the cloud of dust, and Jan narrowly missed the speeding streak of silver. She spotted Slade coming out of the dust, and she jumped upon the blade- now stuck in the pillar- and used it to launch into the air. Out of Slade's reach, she twisted her body so that her legs came down. Slade dodged by a hair's breadth, and the ground underneath Jan's shoes cracked with the force of her landing. She barely had enough time to raise her arms in defense as Slade's leg came at the left side of her head, and the girl found herself skidding along the ground.

"Don't stick to your persona!" Graham screeched, panicking, from what seemed a far away place. "You'll lose money, too!"

Jan didn't care about the money. She never did. It had never been the jobs or the money or even the name it gave her to be in this business. The only thing she had ever gone after was the thrill that would stave off the boredom that persisted every second of her life. Interesting things were what she pursued, and she had found that thievery, assassination, and the like were excellent ways to get into interesting situations. Sure, she could have served the 'greater good' instead, but what was the fun in that? To be bathed in light seemed boring, but to be cloaked in darkness seemed a much more appealing and interesting lifestyle. Especially when you switched faces as much as Jan.

The girl pulled another sword from her suit and extended the one on her other elbow. She could find a smile barely curling the sides of her mouth. She hadn't landed a single hit, but her heart was beating and she was truly interested in this man. His abilities were so much better than her own. The threat of possible death was even more exciting. Slade pulled from his belt a small cylinder that extended into a staff, not unlike the one Robin used.

The two leapt at each other, dashing from side to side and dodging, twirling, smashing their weapons together. Sparks flew, creating a show more attuned to Jan's graceful moves than Slade's more powerful ones. Jan did what she could, despite the knowledge that her abilities weren't good enough to rival Slade's own. She parried his blows, which shook her arms and made them numb. Then, when an opening arrived, she thrust the held blade forwards.

Damn, Slade was fast. He spun in time to dodge the blade and his leg came around. A little more used to the man's movements, Jan ducked in time to avoid the brunt of the blow, but the man's heel clipped her head, causing her to roll several feet away.

The girl got up. Her body felt like she had done a full day's workout. Things were shaking and her chest was heaving; she was tired and thrilled at the same time, and it had been made unhappily clear that her physical abilities compared to this criminal mastermind's were lacking.

"Surely you don't plan on defeating me with that?" Slade said. His voice was as soft as ever, but Jan sensed something else in it: boredom. Well, she couldn't have that.

"Your gymnastic moves are cute," he continued mockingly, "and you have potential. But it's not good enough to beat me. Now just hand over the drive before I put a bruise on your pretty face."

Slade extended his hand as if to make the action easier. Graham glanced between the two, unsure who to side with. Slade could make him lose a lot of money, but if Jan was put out of commission or killed, the entire business would be ruined. Less money was better than no money. Jan seemed to be considering the current situation. She was silent for a time as she caught her breath a little bit and steadied her shaking limbs.

"Do you see me on the ground, unable to get up?" Jan said finally, her expression changing from thoughtful to challenging.

The girl brought up the sword in her hand and threw it, aiming its point at Slade's head. The man turned to the side, avoiding the blade by a calculated centimeter. He blinked lazily to look at the blade in an instant, and then looked again to Jan. But that moment's change of focus was enough for Jan. It was enough for Slade to look back and find that what looked like orange balls of light, maybe the size of a marbles, were held between each of Jan's fingers.

"I'm not beaten yet!" Jan shouted, and she threw the balls.

It was chaos. Those who had been waiting for a job for days, weeks, or months ran. Where the orange lights touched, there were explosions. Now the crowd knew they were in danger, and with much shouting and unnecessary movement, they hurried to the nearest exits. That was fine. It meant more room for Jan and Slade.

Slade was caught off guard by the lights and, blinded and thrown off balance by the explosions, he was easily hit by a sweeping strike of Jan's foot. Jan knew she wouldn't have long to use her mobile mines effectively, so she threw one behind Slade. The orb stuck to the ground, and Jan jumped away before Slade's fist could find her. The orb exploded, throwing Slade forwards. Somehow, he barely missed Jan's blade as he tried to stay on his feet.

The man tried to get Jan's feet from under her, but she avoided it and made to strike at Slade with her sword. She quickly found her weapon was too short, and then lost it in a short parrying battle with Slade's staff. Slade tried to press his advantage, swinging powerfully with the staff. Jan moved around the weapon like water and backed off. Slade, of course, pursued, launching into the air and not giving the girl time to pull any more tricks on him. Not that Jan needed much time to pull a trick out of her overly tight sleeves.

The girl raised her hand, perhaps looking the least innocent for such a simple act. She snapped, flicking her hand towards the flying man. In the air and unable to see the blow that Jan had sent at him, Slade was hit hard by something in the gut. And then, on that same spot, something exploded, sending the man flying far back and causing him to hit a wall.

Jan stood up. Right now, she could not press her advantage. She was neither fast nor strong enough, and any blow she tried to land would likely be reversed and used against her. For the rest of the battle, she would have to use all the tricks she had hidden up her sleeves to gain any sort of advantage.

Slade got up, casually brushing himself off. He was going to have bruises in the morning, Jan was sure of it, but he didn't show it. It was as if there was no such thing as pain. Now he walked forward, picking up his dropped staff along the way.

"That was good. But you're not pressing your victory." He said calmly, almost as if he was lecturing her.

"What are you, my sensei?"

"Not today, child."

"That's good. Otherwise, I'd feel a little guilty." Jan grinned maliciously.

Around Slade, many orange lights suddenly lit up. The orbs all exploded, and the bright flash illuminated Slade's unsurprised eye. Jan was already rushing forwards and turned to kick through the dust, where she was sure Slade would be. She hit something alright, but it grabbed her leg and then hit back. Slade didn't let her move away this time. He pressed forward, forcing her into close-quarters combat that wouldn't allow her fancy tricks to be even thought of. Jan was hit so hard, she wondered if some bones had broken. With a quick move of his hand, Slade caused Jan to lose balance. Then he spun her on the spot and wrapped his arm around her neck, lifting her into the air.

"Game over." Slade said, sounding angry. Apparently, she had annoyed and inconvenienced him more than once.

But Jan smiled a nasty smile.

"Funny how everyone seems to give me second chances." The girl said past the large bicep that was closing off her throat. "Didn't think you'd be the type, though."

Very suddenly, many sharp blades that coated the inside of the back of the girl's suit stuck out. They stuck into Slade's suit and flesh. The man cried out and leaped back, releasing Jan from his grip. He looked down at his abdomen. The wounds were deeper than the inch-long blades that were now hanging limply on Jan's back, so she had used something else to intensify the blow. It was smart for a girl so young and inexperienced, but Slade was not impressed.

Jan landed on the ground shakily and did what she could to turn herself so that she was facing Slade; her legs were shaking real bad now. The girl reached into her suit and found the drive that held all the stolen information she had cut from the company's computer. She held it up for Slade to see, and then tossed it to him. The man caught the drive, but his eye never left the girl.

"Just like I promised." Jan said, allowing a half smile that turned into something more like a smirk.

"Jan! What are you doing?" Graham shouted from somewhere at the edge of the battlefield. "I- Janus!"

**Shieb: Didn't I tell you this was going to be action and battle-oriented? Well, I meant it. Anyways, this is two pages longer than the first chapter because my first chapters tend to be shorter, as just introductions, really. The rest of this story will most be like this... When I get to it, anyway.**


	3. Challenge

The girl's right leg had collapsed from under her. She tried to move so that she didn't land directly on it, but the landing was still like being shocked painfully with electricity. Jan gritted her teeth. Her leg had been threatening to give out for a while now, and she felt that her consciousness might have been fading. That was why she had handed Slade the drive without forcing him to take it from her.

Graham ran from his safe place, crouching down next to Jan. A fist, however, hit him in the shoulder. Instead of seeing a Jan grateful for his help, Graham flinched away from a deadly glare.

"I thought I told you not to call me Janus." The girl said ill-temperedly.

"Er- sorry."

"It's surprising your leg held out this long." Slade said, tucking the drive into a pocket on his belt. "You did well for your skill level. Still, I'm disappointed. I expected more."

Jan's attention turned to Slade. The man was walking away from both Jan and Mr. Graham. He had gotten what he wanted, so there was obviously no reason to stay. The girl felt that strange feeling again, trying to drive her to her feet and try again. Silently, she hoped she'd get to fight with the man again. It was more fun than messing with the Titans.

"Alright." Jan said, huffing out a brave breath. She grasped a wall that was near her and began to pull herself up onto her feet. "Here we go."

"What are you doing?" Graham sounded both angry and panicked.

"Walking to my room."

"No. I'll find someone to carry you."

"No you won't." Jan laughed. "Being carried is weaker than limping. You know they have spies. Think of what your rivals in the underground world would do if they knew your prized thief was wounded and unable to even carry herself."

Graham paused. Jan was right, of course. If his rivals believed Jan unable to even carry herself, the news would spread like wildfire and some of the girl's jobs might even be revoked. That would lose him so much money. Still, seeing his prized thief limp towards the stairs that lead to the lower levels, he couldn't help but accompany her in his worry.

"Well… _I_ thought you had him." Graham said finally, as if this would help the fact that Jan lost.

Jan laughed painfully.

"You obviously weren't paying attention. I was nowhere near that man's level."

"You weren't?" Graham let his question trail off. Then he turned to her, a little angrily. "Why did you make the challenge, then?"

Again, Jan laughed. She stopped sharply in the middle, though, since her ribs felt like one or more had been cracked.

"I didn't make the challenge. He offered the deal, and you know he wasn't going to take no for an answer. In all truth, I lost the moment he decided to take the drive from me."

Graham didn't seem to want to agree. There was no way, in his mind, that Jan couldn't have somehow avoided losing so much money. Now the man was going to explain to his trusted buyers that his star girl had given the drive away. No, that wasn't right. He'd have to tell them she was forced to hand over the drive, upon pain of death. Yes, that would sound better. Not that the buyers would be interested in his excuses.

"I'm still doing my jobs this week." Jan said, leaning against the wall as she proceeded down the hallway after the stairs.

"In your condition?" Graham prodded gently with his words.

"Yes. No matter what the spies try and do, if I stop doing my work, we'll have a definite drop in customers."

"I thought you didn't care about the money." Graham said, his voice reminding Jan of a child.

"I need some for hair dye." Jan admitted, smiling sheepishly. She kept her eyes on where she was going, though, so that she didn't lose her balance.

"Oh, is _that_ it?" Graham's voice rose huffily. He did this every time Jan asked for money. She gave him all her revenue. In return, she asked that he give her what she needed to survive. But he got possessive every time she asked for a nickel.

"The old dye has washed out. I'm sure you've noticed." Jan's tone suggested she was talking to a child.

"Why do you have to keep your hair anything but white, anyways? What's wrong with your true hair color? I like it."

"You don't know anything about subtly, do you?" Jan said, her voice a momentary deadpan. Graham glared. "We've talked about this before, Graham. Just get me the money. I'll take care of the rest."

They had reached her room now. It wasn't too large and it was in a hallway that was supposed to house temporary workers. In truth, it was more to make sure they didn't run than to accommodate them for their good work. That was just the way Graham was. But Jan had a permanent room here. She had tried having an apartment of her own once before. Things hadn't worked in several areas, and so the girl found it was easier just to stay in a place that few knew existed.

"And why do you have to stay here again?" Now he was just complaining. "You're taking up space, Jan!"

"Goodnight, Mr. Graham." Jan said kindly before shutting the door on her boss.

The girl eased herself to her bed, which she carefully seated herself on. Just from breathing, she could tell two ribs were cracked. She was going to be covered in bruises in no time, and it would take a miracle for her to be back at full health by the time she was supposed to perform her first thievery of the week.

Still, she couldn't go to sleep like this. She knew her mask would be returned to her eventually, but the now-tattered suit had blades broken off and sticking out of the wrong places. It wasn't something that she wanted to sleep on her bed with. So she got up and stripped herself of the skin-tight suit, tossing it in a corner, where she kept all her costumes. She looked briefly in a tall mirror and saw that dark spots were already starting to bloom on her skin. Great.

A half shirt and pair of shorts later, Jan was crawling under the covers of her bed. They were thin, but Jan wasn't looking for warmth. She didn't even think about how they might hinder her movement as she fell asleep, her left hand habitually reaching under her pillow for a knife she used to always keep safe.

* * *

><p>Robin huffed in an annoyed fashion, glaring at the screen in front of him. He put his gloved hand to his face, tapping his index finger on his cheek with his suppressed aggravation. With another sigh, he leaned back in the chair, pulling that same hand through his spiky black hair.<p>

"Robin, please come and enjoy the food our friends have made for us!" Starfire approached, holding a bowl of jiggling alien food that would inevitably only be eaten by her at the end of the day.

"I can't." The boy insisted. "I have to figure this out."

"Figure what out, dude?" Beastboy asked, momentarily pulling away from his wrestling match with Cyborg, who believed that meat (the most detestable thing to eat, in Beastboy's opinion) was the only food to consume.

"These robberies," Robin replied, never looking away from the screen, which had case files on everything he found suspicious. "and thieveries. We've been hit every week, numerous times in the last three weeks, by thieves that we've never met before, and never meet again."

As if to emphasize this, the case files cycled through the images of each of the thieves that had never been caught.

"Robin's right." Raven said wisely, much to the disappointment of her other friends, who were already stuffing themselves. "There have been more enemies getting away from us these last three weeks than ever, and I don't think it's because we've lost our touch.

"Stho wha'?" Beastboy asked through a mouthful of tofu.

"Yeah. What are you thinking?" Cyborg looked between Robin and Raven.

"We can't track them all down." Laughed Beastboy, now that his mouth was full. "It's not like they're all the same person."

"That might be exactly what they are." Robin typed at the keyboard.

"Excuse me," interjected Starfire apologetically, "but I do not understand. How could many really be one?"

"It's simple. You just wear a lot of different masks." Raven supplied.

"But why would someone do that? Why waste the energy?" Cyborg asked.

"Not to mention the money. Can you imagine buying a new costume every time we went to go save somebody?" Beastboy said, making a face.

"It's not a strain if you make enough money for it. Perhaps if you had many draws of money…"

"What, like an underground system?" Cyborg said, raising a brow.

"Yes. I remember you telling me about some rumors."

"Well, yeah, but most of them were never confirmed. There was something going around the phone lines about a thief for hire and the person who finds their jobs about three weeks ago, but it was shut off pretty quickly."

"Three weeks ago? You're sure?" Robin asked.

"That's exactly when this all started." Raven confirmed.

"So the one person could really be tricking us? There are many of them?"

"It just seems like it, Star." Robin assured her.

"But why? I mean, where's the motivation?" Beastboy asked, still quite confused.

"Maybe it's to protect their identity?" Cyborg suggested with a shrug of his cybernetic shoulders.

"Perhaps they have an obsession with colorful and elaborate costumes?" Starfire said with a raised hand.

"They're actually a child of some really rich dude?" Beastboy suggested, completely off topic.

"Or maybe they're just doing it for kicks." Robin said cynically, finally turning away from the computer screen. "It doesn't matter what their motivation is. We need to catch them. The next time an unfamiliar, extravagant thief shows up, we catch them and find out what connections they have."

"Maybe it's Red X!" Beastboy suddenly leapt up.

"Naw, too extravagant." Cyborg shook his head.

"I do not think he would be unsatisfied with the suit that he stole from Robin." Starfire frowned.

"Perhaps Slade…" Robin started, but his friends were quick to cut him off.

"Not this again, man!" Beastboy protested.

"Yes, I do think you spend too much time focused on that evil man." Starfire almost seemed upset.

"Besides, what would Slade have to do with this?" Raven said reasonably.

"Well, the people in Jump City have become less trusting in us." Cyborg admitted.

"But why would Slade spend three weeks just to unbalance the people slightly? No, I don't think Slade's involved." The blue-cloaked girl said with finality.

"Fine." Robin huffed. "In the meantime, let's see what we can find out about that underground system."

"Right after the barbeque, right?" Beastboy grinned, holding up a tray of tofu treats to Robin, who did his best not to show his distaste.

Of course, the alarm chose to go off at that moment.

"Trouble."

* * *

><p>Jan woke up every time someone walked past the door. Or, at least, she usually did. This time, she was pulled out of her sleep by a knock on her door.<p>

"Yeah?" Jan called out, pulling herself up into a sitting position and flinching.

Graham entered, looking both furious and frightened, as he often did.

"Y-you won't believe it! I mean, could you even do it? I don't think you can. Oh, I'm ruined. I mean we- we're ruined."

Jan held up a hand, trying to calm her boss down.

"Whoa, whoa. You're getting ahead of yourself. Start from the beginning. And close my door!"

The heavy door closed with a click, and Graham whirled to face Jan. He began explaining, many hand movements aiding his brief but startling story. There were times when Jan questioned his sanity; his eyes were bulging and looked a little crazy.

"Apparently the spies did see you yesterday. All of your jobs this week called me, saying a little birdy told them that you were out of commission. I, of course, said you were perfectly fine. And… and then…" The man grew pale for a second, and then forced the next sentence out like it was his undoing. "Now they all want their jobs done on the same day- the day your first job was supposed to be!"

Jan sighed and began to rub her forehead. This was making things far too complicated. She knew something like this would happen, but she hadn't expected it this quickly, and she hadn't expected it to be this painful. There was no way she could get all those jobs done in the condition she was in, and certainly not with only one day's prep.

"Alright. Tell them all that the jobs are on. I'll have everything done by the end of tomorrow."

"The- the end of tomorrow?" Graham did a double-take. He had to make sure Jan wasn't saying what he thought she was saying. "So your deadline is…?"

"Midnight Tuesday night. I'd better get to work, then."

Jan got up out of her bed, feeling like an old lady. She was still stiff and in pain from the fight the other day. A glance at the clock revealed that Graham had let her sleep in. She didn't know whether to be grateful or not, but she couldn't focus on it.

"But you healing enough to do a job properly, let alone three, by tomorrow would a-"

"A miracle, yes."

Now Jan was grabbing some clothes out of the small collection of normal wear that she had. She piled them all on one arm, which felt like jelly, and turned to Graham. He looked at her sheepishly, not sure whether he should be worried- not only for her health, but her sanity- or overjoyed.

"Did you get the hair dye?"

Graham frowned unhappily. He tossed a small box at Jan, who caught it with her free hand and looked at it. She then frowned and looked up at Graham.

"This is not black, Graham."

"I know. But you have to use so many more boxes of dye when you turn it black."

"I can't help my hair color." Jan said, irritated.

"No, but you could keep it the way it is."

"We've been over this before. It's too noticeable. If someone made the connection between my hair, me, and this place, you'd be out of a business."

Graham looked at the ground. Of course he knew those things. It still didn't make him want to lose another cent that he didn't have to, though.

"Oh, right. What about the suits?" Jan asked, hesitating at the door.

"They're still in the works. Why don't you use one of your old ones?"

"I need them done by Tuesday, at nine." Jan set down her stuff to pick up a piece of paper and a pencil. She scribbled quickly on it, writing out times and places. "I'll need the suits delivered to these places when they're done by these times, and I'll need them easy to put on and off. Call the manufacturers and tell them I requested it urgently." She handed him the slip of paper. "Now. I'll be in the bathroom. Don't come in, even if I answer a knock. I've got a lot of work to do."

The girl sighed and headed out of her room and down to the bathroom, which was down another hall. She would have to get her hair done in record time, because Graham got angry if the water was running too long.

**Shieb: Ok, so this is a pause in the action, consisting mainly of talk. What I'm doing here is setting up the scene for a series of more intense scenes coming up. Next chapter, we'll be straight back to battle and taking things that don't belong to us. ;)**

**A note is that I'm unsure I portrayed the Titans believably. I don't know why I have such a hard time grasping their characters, particularly when they're together. If you have suggestions to help me write their characters, like little mannerisms that I'm missing, please inform me, and I'll be sure to take the suggestion.**


	4. Three in One

Three jobs in one day. No, it was three jobs in one night. It was an impossible feat for a grown, fully-trained thief for hire. Still, this teenage girl was going to perform all three tonight, no matter what. Everything was perfectly timed. Every move was planned, and all the preparations had been made. Now she just needed to not screw up.

The girl's injuries weren't anything to worry about right now, even though she was still a little stiff and sore. It was thanks to an ability that she knew. Often, Jan tried to avoid using this ability because of how tired it left her afterwards. As things stood, Jan had gone to sleep right after she had cleaned up, dyed her hair, and planned out the events for the next evening. She had not woken up until an hour before she was supposed to get to work. It was a good thing, too. If she hadn't slept a full eighteen hours, Jan would not have the energy she had right now, however incomplete.

Her first job was in the building of a large corporate company. There was an item there that was still in its testing stages, but the buyer wanted it before it was completed. He said things would be easier that way. Jan no longer wondered whom for.

It wasn't the roof that she broke into this time. Instead, the thief used a conduit that came over from a neighboring building. After making it into the building, she slipped from corridor to corridor, maneuvering herself towards her goal while she stuck to the shadows and avoided all suspicion from the cops. Cameras were easy to avoid, since almost all of them moved. Timing was crucial, though, and she couldn't miss a single beat.

A small device was thrown at the last camera, which was fixed at a position that would see any oncoming intruders. It was just outside of the door to the item Jan wanted to steal. Good placement, bad luck; the camera fried the second the small, disk-like device landed.

The girl approached the door, pulling out a device from the coat she was wearing this time around. She plugged it in and commenced hacking. With a soft whirring of gears, the giant door parted and allowed the thief to enter. She withdrew her device and entered. The door closed behind her.

On the walls of this bright room were several cases. All of them were glass and displayed technology in the making. The girl paced around the edge of the wall, looking at the stuff on display. Finally, she came to the center of the room. The object in question looked somewhat like a pyramid. What seemed to be separating every 'brick' on this thing was a small, pulsating, blue light. The Pyramid itself was silver.

Jan examined the casing and all its components. She raised a device on her wrist, and a fine mist sprayed out, revealing red lasers. A tap on her wrist revealed the time, the metal casing on her large bracelets pulling back to reveal a clock. The girl wasn't sure if she would have time to spend on this. Her opportune time for the next job might pass by if she spent another fifteen minutes here, playing Red Light, Green Light with the security system. The casing closed up again.

With a swift movement, Jan broke the glass that encased the target. Red emergency lights blinking, she grabbed the pyramid, put it into a bag on the inside of her coat, and turned to proceed out the door. She tapped on the keypad that controlled the door's mechanics. Usually, her hacking would have worked, but the emergency alarm apparently didn't allow anyone in or out of any restricted areas. The doors finally hissed open when the girl crushed the controls.

Escape wasn't exactly the same as entering. Jump City's police rushed to confront the thief, their guns raised. As if that would do anything to her. The girl avoided their gunfire and knocked them out. At least, that was until about twenty rounded the corner and all charged at her. She was forced to run, maneuvering quickly from hallway to hallway and circling the crowd on themselves so that when they all tried to join up at a small corridor, they all ran into each other and got tangled.

An open window in an empty office saved the thief. She jumped out without a second thought, landing with a bit of hesitation. Her legs weren't fully healed yet, so even just the bottom two stories of a building became a bit of a chore to jump down from.

Knowing eyes would soon be upon her, Jan began running down the road. She maneuvered her way quietly from the building, losing the police with speed and eventually making it to an alleyway.

Tonight, this wasn't just an alleyway. It was a very special place to Jan because it was specific to her thievery. There was a homeless-looking man sitting at the side of the alley, gazing off into the distance. Jan stopped beside him, tearing off the coat and throwing it at him. He looked up at her, surprised. Then he seemed to understand as the thief reached for a bag that had been cleverly hidden under a pile of trash. With a quick strapping on of several belts, buckles, and a new mask from the bag, Jan looked like a completely different criminal. And then she was gone from the alleyway, expertly disappearing.

* * *

><p>Crap. Jan hadn't known that they would have these security precautions here. Likely, the people who hired her were enemies of Graham's business and wanted to make her look bad, thus the addition of an unknown security precaution. Or not; who knew? The problem was still the same. Jan had a limited time to get things done and move onto the next job, and she needed to scramble her last plan for this building and forge a new one on the spot.<p>

She was in a secluded room in the building with security screens, cameras being streamed live, and information on things like heat and pressure in the building. It was a nice room, but was generally only used when someone needed eyes to be on everything. As it was, this sleek, black room was completely empty. The guards were at the front door, oblivious to the intruder.

Jan tapped the screen in front of her a few times, and examined what would happen if she moved things around. A lot of actions required passwords, without which the alarms would be set off. This was certainly a difficult position. The girl sighed and glanced around the room, trying to see if there was anything she missed. She spotted a thick power conduit, which supplied main power to the building. After looking around, she found the emergency power line as well. Well, it might work.

Protection around the wires was thick and difficult to cut through. Jan grew impatient. She heated up the edges of the two blades she had with her explosives, and then sliced through both clusters of wires.

The girl was plunged into darkness. No problem. She had a special little button on her mask that she had been planning to use later on, but now it helped her see in the dark. She maneuvered her way out of the all-powerful room and walked up a couple of stories to the room she was truly looking for.

The room was sleek and black, just like the control room below. However, this room seemed entirely empty. The person who hired Jan to perform this job told her he did not want the main event, which was displayed on a cliché podium in the center of the room, but one of the things in the boxes on the sides. As Jan walked in, she saw no boxes, even with her night vision. Only four walls and the podium were apparent.

"Damn it." She growled, feeling the voice synthesizer make her sound huskier. "Just another setback they forgot to mention."

Gloved fingers dragged along the walls lightly and with paranoia. If she left a single hair behind, she would be found. Well, her files could be brought up, at least. The police had no hope of truly finding her and tracing her path over five years of nomadic living.

Nothing. There wasn't a single clue hidden among the feel or the greenish look of the walls. Frustration built up slowly, and Jan became increasingly aware of her dwindling time. If she missed even one job, Graham would be through, and so would she.

"Boxes on the sides…" Jan repeated the words quietly to herself. She tilted her head at the wall that was left of the door. Fingers tapped on the tiles for a couple of moments, and then Jan placed her palm against the tiles. There was silence as she concentrated on the tiles. She was trying to sense a difference in sound, in density, in energy, in vibration- anything her senses could possibly pick up. The girl got what she was looking for, though she couldn't repeat exactly what it was later on.

Suddenly, Jan was filled with quick motions. She took off the dense front part of her mask and twitched away stray hairs irritably. There was a wire in the base of the mask, and she found a plug-in on a dead screen that was next to the door. The mask gave the screen power, and then diverted power from there to the room. Jan didn't have much time to use this little trick, so she searched fervently for the item she was looking for. Finding it, she opened the box remotely. It hissed open, four tiles extending to reveal a box that was literally in the wall. Jan unhooked the mask, put it back on, and retrieved the item from the box.

Just as she was turning from the box, the lights flickered on dimly. Jan wondered how power had been supplied to the building, but stopped worrying about it when the red lights started flashing and the box closed. They knew she was there, and they would likely be sending forces.

Not that this mattered to Jan. She had a talent- perhaps it was more like a hobby or interest- of finding interesting little facts about the buildings she robbed. In this case, it was weak flooring and an air system. The girl rushed out of the room, turned left, and continued until she found a closet. She dove into the closet and stomped her foot, hard, on the ground. It gave way, and then Jan was skidding with her heels down a very steep air shaft.

The small area leveled out, and then sharply turned down. But Jan used her speed to fly off the edge of the slope and crash through an opening in the vent. She rolled along the ground and looked up to spot vague images of the Titans. So they had come. But Jan didn't have the time to wait for or entertain them, so she turned the other way and ran when the Titan's voices suggested they had heard her exit from the air shaft. Another window and a large trash can were conveniently placed, so Jan waited there until she was sure the Titans were preoccupied with the inside of the building.

After leaping from the trash can, Jan sprinted to another street. She used high ground when she could, but tried not to draw more attention to herself, now that the Titans were out and about. Robin went absolutely nuts when he couldn't beat something or someone, and Jan really just was not interested in having him focused on her.

Oh, God, her legs hurt like hell. Not only had they taken a huge beating from Slade, but they were not fully healed yet. Jumping from the second story window twice and sliding down an air shaft had not helped. Jan almost tripped once or twice, but kept her footing. She only had one more job to do, and then the night was done, ended, closed, shut down.

The next pit stop was a closed-down restaurant. It looked old and like no one had ever eaten or worked there since it's opening, with cob webs covering every surface they could spread to and broken windows letting in a breeze. Jan went in the back and was immediately greeted with a gun barrel. She didn't pause for it, instead unhitching her buckles immediately and tearing off her mask so she could breath.

"I'll need the three small felt bags and the duffel bag with my stuff in it."

"What're you talking about?"

Jan stood to look at the elderly man. He was glaring suspiciously at her, finger on the trigger.

"I am the underground thief with many faces. I've come to collect my stuff so that you can get paid. Now where the hell is my stuff?"

She acted impatient and self-centered. No one took you seriously with this kind of thing unless you frowned, focused on what _you_ wanted, and didn't take 'no' for an answer. The man's gun dipped for a second, and then he put down the shotgun and shuffled moodily to the back of the run-down place. Jan shook her head while she put everything in the appropriate places. Why would they make an old man be the person to take care of this?

A girl who was maybe her twenties came into view next, smiling the sort of business smile you saw on politicians or businessmen. It never extended to her eyes, but her body language was non-threatening and submissive. Jan paid her little attention as she was handed the duffel bag. She stuffed her second costume into the duffel bag, noticing her first was in there, and grabbed the three smaller bags.

"I'm so sorry for my grandfather. He's a little paranoid, so he tends to put a gun in trespasser's faces."

"Nobody lives here and you two aren't related." Jan said, stuffing the first two things she had stolen into their own bags. The girl saved the third one, which looked like it was made of a more special fabric, for the last item of the night.

"H-how did you know?" The woman started, surprised. A look in her eyes suggested she was considering whether or not Jan was an enemy now.

In response, the thief put her finger behind one of her ears and bent the top forward, letting it go quickly before tapping the tip of her finger to her nose. The woman didn't seem to understand, but Jan didn't care. She was focused on the task ahead. Before she left the building, however, she paused to look at the indecisive female before her.

"Oh, right. You're a check point because I need to tell you. The three man show- you, your 'grandfather', and your 'son'- have worked in other places, but here it'll get you killed. You're all from a small town, so I can see how you wouldn't understand city life. You try thieving or killing here with your group and it'll be game over real quick."

Jan turned and headed for the back door. The woman behind her took a step forward, sounding angry.

"How could you say that when you started out just the same?"

Jan stopped and laughed briefly. So they had done their homework, just like she had.

"Yeah, I used to be you. But I started out small, didn't I? I didn't jump from the boonies to a god damn metropolis."

She was out of time, so Jan left an angry woman and two men who were huddled in the shadows. They may stay, they may not. There was really no difference in Jan's mind. But if they stayed, it would be a miracle if they didn't die. The Titans couldn't save everyone.

This was the last place. If the Titans had caught wind of anything substantial- they might have, since the spies tipped off competitors to my apparent weakness- they would be there. Therefore, this would be the most dangerous job of the night. Jan's entire method had been to hit things quickly, get the job done, and get out before any real strength came to preoccupy her. Now that the Titans were involved, Jan had to be ready for confrontation.

Strangely, Jan's mind wasn't the most interested on whether or not the Titans would overwhelm her. She was the most worried about what could happen after she was caught. The thief took pride in several promises of hers, a couple of which being that the person who hired her would have total anonymity and that she would personally deliver the prize to wherever or whoever she was told. Right now, Jan had three things to deliver, and each to different places, people, and times. The problem was that if Jan was caught with these three items and the Titans made a connection with any one of them, the entire underground system, not to mention all of Jan's customers, could collapse. The biggest problem with having more than one job a night- much less a week- was that the chance of someone connecting one of Jan's identities to all of them was higher. She wouldn't let that happen. She couldn't.

* * *

><p>Starfire looked at Robin, worrying that his frown and furrowed brow might become permanent. There were already two thieveries this night- right after their conversation about the disconnected thieves, interestingly enough. Robin seemed to be very upset about it as he stared at the empty box that was sticking out of an otherwise smooth, black wall.<p>

"I talked to the guards, and they didn't know anyone was here until after the reserve power turned on." Beastboy said after flying into the room and morphing back to his human self.

"Sounds familiar. The last place was like that, too." Robin frowned as he turned to view his teammates. "Cyborg, you got anything?"

"I don't get how she knew this was here." Cyborg admitted, tapping at the buttons on his right arm. "This was a state-of-the art defense system. Nobody but a select few staff members knew there were boxes in the walls, much less the codes to each one."

"Raven?" Now the leader's eyes turned to the cloaked one, who was floating a few inches above the ground.

"I don't sense any magic around here." She confirmed.

"Alright."

The four others followed Robin as he exited the room. They walked steadily down the hallways, making their way downstairs. Starfire was about to question what they should do next when Robin spoke up again.

"There might be another thievery tonight. Cyborg, check every possible point where the thief would hit. We'll split up and confront them."

"The thief?" Beastboy asked.

"So we're assuming it's just one?" Cyborg clarified, already tapping away at his arm again.

"That seems to be the only logical explanation. Something bigger would just be a waste of resources."

There was some silence as the group kept walking or, in some cases, flying. Cyborg's arm made small beeps for a little while longer before he spoke up as well.

"Alright, I've checked the city over, and there are three most likely places that are connected to these robberies. I don't know if I _should_ be looking for any connection, but these are our best choices."

The group paused so they could look at the holographic image hovering above the cybernetic arm.

"Alright." Robin said. "Let's move!"

Though no specific orders were given, the Titans moved into their groups, splitting off instinctually to reach their destinations as soon as possible. Robin was alone, heading for where the center dot marked. He left Raven and Beastboy to go right, and Cyborg and Starfire to head left. Again, the question arose in his mind, whether Slade had anything to do with it. But perhaps that was just his obsession talking again.

* * *

><p>Quietly, Jan watched the room in which some thermal device was held. It was large, with technology on every wall. Was everything she robbed like this, or just the really rich corporations? Or perhaps this counted as robbing a house? After all, the owner of this interesting device had his business integrated into his estate. It was a curious choice that Jan disagreed with heartily, but her buyers were not objective.<p>

Another couple of moments confirmed to Jan that no one was in the room. A couple of Jump City police were stationed outside the room, but that was no problem, since she had the whole estate's power supply hooked up to an interesting device that would sabotage everything for a good five minutes. At least this time she knew her time limit.

A remote was held up in front of her, and she tapped the screen with all the deftness of someone who typed regularly. The lights flickered and then went off, and Jan kicked out the grate before jumping into the room. She adjusted her cape, looking around once more before approaching the item in the center. The light around it had stayed on, like some eerie omen. And just as the girl extended her hand for the last catch of the day, a staff swooped through the air, forcing her to pull back sharply.

Robin was quick to move in between the thief and the item they were after. He held up his staff threateningly, daring her to move in closer. She backed up a little bit, showing her distrust of him and acknowledging him as a skilled opponent.

"We've got you now."

"Now?" grated the girl's voice, dropped low and acquiring the tones of a robot. "You make it sound as if we've met before."

"Don't joke with me." The boy growled.

"As you wish." She said obligingly. "Then let's move onto a more serious subject, shall we?"

She jumped forward, and then back again to avoid the staff. Just as quickly, she jumped up into the air, landing behind Robin, who tried to move away, but got grabbed by his opponent. Then the girl pulled the boy in, restraining him in what was almost a tight hug.

"You're going to feel this." She whispered next to his ear, the voice changing device unable to register her tones, and therefore failing to disguise her.

Then there was a sharp discharge of energy from the suit, and Robin shouted as the electricity attacked him. Jan dropped the boy and turned back to the item for which she had come for. Placing it in the last pouch on her belt, she sighed sadly.

"Disappointing."

**Shieb: Why have I finished this? Because no one reviewed, but four people have added this to their favorite stories. I must be doing something right here, and my stories being favorited gives a clear sign- write more. I'm glad you people like this story, though I would enjoy it ever so much more if you told me why. *nudge nudge* *hint hint* R&R**


	5. The Final Job

The sound of a sonic cannon charging told Jan the night would not be as boring as she thought. She smiled under the mask and turned quietly as a hole was blasted into the wall. Out of it came Cyborg and Starfire, Starfire with her bolts already lit up and ready to go.

"Don't move." Cyborg warned.

"I do not want to hurt you." Starfire said.

"How noble." Jan returned off-handedly, turning her head to look at the room around her once more.

The two approached Robin, and Cyborg made a sharp movement that told Jan to back up, which she did. More movement revealed Raven and Beastboy, who materialized from a black spot on the wall. Now Jan was somewhat exasperated.

Two Titans was manageable. Four was difficult, and Jan had a curfew. A groan told her that four just turned to five, and Robin pushed his way off the floor and stood, glaring, at Jan. The girl couldn't help but chuckle. What else was she to do?

"Finally." Beastboy sighed. "_Now_ can we sleep at two in the morning, like we used to?"

"Maybe." Said Raven.

"If this is indeed a thief with many faces." Starfire said nervously.

"Thief with many faces?" Jan said statically. "Curious thesis."

"Yeah, we'll see." Robin glared, approaching the girl. He reached out a hand, brashly hurrying to unmask her.

The girl grabbed his wrist quickly, moving her face out of the way, and then shocked Robin, sending him back.

"Just because you have me at cannon point doesn't mean I'm just going to let you take off my mask." She scolded almost motherly, though one couldn't hear it through the device on her neck. "Perhaps if it was a little give and take, huh?"

"No deal." Robin spun his staff around, holding it like he had before.

"Oh well." The girl shrugged carelessly, and then reached to detach some items from the back of her suit. The motion was recognized by Robin, and he told his team to scatter just before Jan threw some small, explosive devices.

Starfire was the first to occupy the thief, throwing her starbolts to make Jan step quickly away. Then Cyborg fired off his cannon, but a high jump cleared her of the blast. The girl landed behind Cyborg, and a quick kick preoccupied him before Raven came out of the walls, her magic taking the form of a giant raven that reached for the thief. This was, of course, avoided, but brought Jan into direct conflict with Robin, who swung his staff ferociously, forcing Jan to choose between fighting Raven or Robin. She chose the more physical fighter and grabbed the boy's staff, using it to throw him into the dark form of his friend.

An ox charged at the thief, and she spun around, almost mocking him with her cape. Then the large beast turned around and charged again, but this time jumped in the air, morphing into a monkey which spun around Jan's figure, startling her. Quick action, though, literally shocked the animal, and Beastboy fell to the ground, thoroughly spent.

A shout from Starfire informed the thief of the girl's intent, and a quick spin allowed her to narrowly dodge a superhuman punch that cracked the floor, and a jump let her avoid an equally devastating kick. Another punch came from Cyborg, which the girl barely jumped over. But Raven ejected Robin right behind the thief, and a strong strike from his staff sent the girl reeling to the side of the room. Thrown off balance, she was unable to effectively defend herself from the barrage of blows that came her way, and she was finally pushed up against the wall. Defiantly, she started up the sparks on the suit, to ward away any further attacks.

"You're wasting your time." Robin said while Raven retreated to pick up the unsteady Beastboy.

Jan hated to admit it, but Robin was right. This suit, despite its impressive ability to distract, disengage, and paralyze her opponents, took up a lot of juice. Right now, she only had enough energy to make herself look like she was still dangerous. Fighting like this was pointless. Quickly, Jan looked around, trying to remember everything she could about this room. There was a flicker of light in the situation, and she clung to it, examining the walls around her.

The Titans wondered what the thief was doing as she turned away from them, balling up her fist and pulled it back. With a shout, the thief punched through the wall, her hand sticking to the circuitry inside. She did this with her other hand as well, and it quickly became apparent that the wires in the walls were reacting with the suit, and large strikes of electricity became a sudden hazard, pushing the Titans back. After a sudden burst of light, everything went out, even the light reserved for the centerpiece of the room. The only things that still glowed were Cyborg and the thief, since her suit now lit up in certain areas.

"You guys look tired." Crackled Jan's voice. "You should rest a bit."

The Titans scrambled to act as fast as they could, but a shockwave was released from the suit, and it blasted them all back, numbing their bodies and minds, so that the entire group was groaning on the floor, trying to regain basic functions.

"Thanks for the game, but I've a previous engagement. Perhaps we might meet again before I move on."

And with a bow, she exited.

* * *

><p>Delivery was not interrupted by any Titans, which was a more than welcome break for Jan. She changed out of her suit, switching it for a decent set of clothes. She stopped at the meeting places for each of the deliveries, traveling to a mansion, then a warehouse, and lastly the foot of a library. Each item was handed over with inquiry and curious comments about how difficult it was to fetch each item. Jan answered with the appropriate casualty, effectively sending her message to the buyers. Nothing would slow her down. Nothing would stop her from performing her job just as she was asked to.<p>

A few gracious conversations later, Jan made her way through the streets of Jump City quietly. Here, without a persona to act as, her steps were confident and didn't bother to become quiet. Jan wasn't a criminal, her personas were, and there was nothing to connect the two.

As such, the nervousness she felt beneath the surface didn't show as she saw the Titans searching Jump City. She realized she must have really rattled the cage, since the team was still going through the city for any hint of the thief. A dark green bird flew through the alleyways and over Jan, who paid it no mind. Not ten minutes after, Starfire flew by, illuminating her path with a glow from her hands. They didn't come close to her until Robin attacked someone in an alleyway, right next to Jan.

Jan stopped suddenly, turning her head sharply. It would be strange if she ignored him, right? Robin was holding up a fully grown man by the throat, glaring into his eyes.

"So you've heard of them?" Robin pressed a subject that had apparently been started from before.

"Everything about it went dark a while ago, though!" the man gasped.

Jan watched and looked to the man who Robin was almost strangling. She recognized him, since he often took odd jobs from Graham's business. If he squealed, Graham and Jan would be in trouble. In fact, the girl was about to intervene when Starfire flew down next to Robin.

"Robin!" Starfire exclaimed before putting an arm on the boy's arm, to calm him.

She gave a worried glance toward Jan, who let concern pass onto her face when Robin glanced over. Robin looked over and, spotting the citizen, seemed to come into his right mind. He dropped the man, who fell to his knees, gasping.

"I'm sorry." Robin mumbled to Starfire.

Jan figured lingering much longer would be unwise, so she jogged to the man and, pushing her hair out of her face, tried to help him to his feet. His grip was strong on her arm, and he didn't give any obvious forms of recognition as he looked at her gratefully. Then Jan turned to look at Robin, curious as to what was on the boy's mind.

Apparently, the two superheroes thought it best to leave the other two alone, and Jan quickly moved her fellow thief farther from the good-doers. Once they were around the corner, however, she signaled for him to pause, and she listened quietly. What could have upset Robin so much? She had heard that he could be obsessive, but Robin had never paid this much attention to anyone other than Slade.

"Robin, what is wrong?" Starfire inquired.

"Nothing." was the surly reply.

"I know you are lying." the girl sighed sadly.

"Slade was involved." Robin grumbled angrily. "I met him when we separated to look for the thief, and he commented on what a good show this night turned out to be."

"Robin, I do not see how-"

"Don't you get it? It's another one of Slade's games!" Here, there was a pause that made way for a dull thud. Robin had just punched the side of a building. "I asked him if he knew who the thief was, or if it was many thieves, but he just kept screwing with me. He knows who it is, but he won't say anything."

Here, Jan thought it best to leave. The longer she lingered, the worse things would look when she was found, obvious as day, listening in on the Titans about Slade. She suspected the others would gather soon, anyways, and she didn't feel like being around all five of them when she just pulled off three heists in about four hours. The girl and the man she had protected earlier took their own paths, although both led to the underground and the abandoned train station.

As usual, the underground was as dim and silent as the solemn men and women waiting to be hired for one job or another. She didn't even glance twice at them, only giving her brief attention to some who were bold enough to plead to her. Despite her job, Jan felt a few heart strings pulled, and she made a note to recommend a few of the more desperate people for the smaller jobs. But at the moment, she couldn't waste the time, or at least that was the front she put on. So she walked right by them and their desperate faces, and proceeded toward Graham's office with a slight limp in her left leg.

Graham greeted her with a smile and shining eyes. He could already tell that Jan had completed all three jobs, and his computer screen glowed with what Jan assumed were the results. Perhaps she had gotten impressive reviews from the customers.

"You've done it! Three jobs in one night! I mean, the customers were unhappy over your timing with one alarm or another, but you finished all three, and brilliantly on time!"

Jan took a swift bow, curving her arm beneath her torso for a moment. She arose with a small smile that she always allowed when being given praise for a job well done.

"But whatever are you here for? You must be tired. And I, well, I have payments to collect." He laughed, giddy. "It's times like this, I just want to hug you!"

"Please don't." Jan said, eyeing his frayed suit. "But you are right, I need to rest. Oh, and Graham, when you're taking small jobs, make sure to let some of those who've been waiting longer get a piece. We want workers, not corpses."

"Of course. Of course!"

Jan left the office, still walking tall. Her footsteps brought her across the abandoned tracks and let her hop onto the other walkway, where she headed straight for the rooms. There was an assassination attempt- a blade thrown at her, which she caught and returned with a more accurate aim. A few trusted individuals rose up to escort the wounded assassin out of the underground, and possibly kill him.

Only when Jan made it to her room did her true exhaustion show. She allowed her left leg to collapse when she made it to the bed, and leaned over awkwardly as she allowed herself to feel every ache and pain that remained, or had been aggravated. But she was not done yet, and changed swiftly out of her nice clothes and into her bed clothes. The girl double-checked her weapons, and what she had, and then looked at the pile of abandoned costumes, now joined by an extra duffle bag from the last three jobs. Sighing, she decided she would have to sort through them and keep, reuse, or redefine some. After she slept.

* * *

><p><em>She was walking through a snowstorm. Just before her rose a giant wall of ice, the top of which she couldn't see. Jan approached it, and when she reached it, she put her gloved hands on the smooth surface.<em>

_The girl saw her reflection. Green contact lens, brown dye in her hair, a turtleneck under a long, wool coat. Then there was another figure in the reflection, one with a mask that was half black and half orange._

_Jan spun sharply, and found herself no longer in a snowstorm, but instead at the edge of an important-looking room with white walls and an object in the center, quietly waiting. Somehow, she knew that she now had white hair and her normal blue-grey eyes. She approached the object, knowing she wanted it, though she wasn't sure if it was for herself or for someone else._

"_Don't do it!" someone shouted._

_Jan hesitated, and tilted her head to the side to view the Titans behind her. They had weapons primed, but for some reason looked reluctant to engage Jan. She wondered at this. Were they not enemies?_

"_No, take it." Another voice said calmly. The walls parted for Slade to enter, and Jan recognized his mask from the ice. "You've already chosen your life, haven't you?"_

"_What are you doing here?" Jan wondered aloud, but she got no answer._

_Hand still extended, Jan waited. She weighed both sides. Her role was the thief, she knew. It was the role she had chosen for herself, but the Titans… why were they disagreeing with her, as if she were a friend? And then there was Slade's view; that it shouldn't matter if she took it._

_But the item wasn't for her, was it?_

_Jan lowered her arm and turned to look at the Titans, who readjusted their aim for Slade._

"_I'm not a middle man for either side. Settle your own quarrels." She sighed as she made her way away from both parties, down a hall that grew from the wall before her._

_The two groups stared after her, with varied expressions that she could not see. And then floor suddenly fell out from under her, and Jan jerked sharply, searching for something she could use._

Jan sat up sharply in response to the horrible jerking feeling that always happened when you fell in dreams. A quiet, deep breath began to steady her heart. Then a quick glance made sure that no one had spotted her sudden ruffled moment.

What was that dream? It had come out of nowhere. In fact, Jan hadn't had clear dreams like that for years. Strange, that one should just pop up now, forcing her awake with sudden urgency. And the people and places were even more confusing. Her? Friends with the Titans? It was obscene, an absolutely ridiculous idea! Slade had no more business in her dreams than the Titans had. She had only met the man once, but there he was.

A sudden wave of longing hit Jan, and she swayed with it, her thoughts quite changed. There it was, that urge again. It gave her the picture of the sea at the harbor here in Jump City, accompanied by the smell and sound of the waves.

Jan couldn't quite explain why this happened. This was the longest she had stayed anywhere in about 6 years. For some reason, when she stayed somewhere for long periods of time, she had the urge to continue traveling, like there was something pulling her somewhere important. Except Jan doubted she was being pulled anywhere. Eventually, boredom had caused her to retrace where she had been pulled, and the feeling had dragged her almost everywhere on the United States.

It wasn't always the ocean that was drawn to her. Methods of travel that she was pulled to had involved forests, particular trails, rivers, creeks, oceans. You name the terrain, however impossible, and she eventually left town via that terrain at one point.

In fact, if it weren't for the interesting things that she found along the way, Jan would always be on the move. She would stop in one town or another to learn about an interesting person, fighting style, art, etc. Whatever caught Jan's fancy, she would stop for. But eventually, the feeling would grow too strong, and now it was about time that the wind took her away from this underground, which she and Graham had literally built together.

It was almost a sad idea, leaving this place. Jan found Graham on the streets less than a month ago, trying to broker pathetic deals to make a scratch of money. His suit had been worse then, fringed with mud and smelling of mold. He was nothing more than a street rat. Still, Jan recognized something in this street rat- a certain genius in his calculations, which he performed and repeated without hesitation. He knew how to prospect, and he knew how to run things, but he was missing a key part to his abilities.

For a business to grow, Jan concluded, a person need success to build upon. Graham only had starving people off the streets to work with. Not a single person of true proficiency was in his 'employ', and more than one failure had cost Graham everything he had gained. Curious as to whether Graham could do it, Jan offered her services. She proposed the idea of an underground network, borrowing an abandoned and spacious train station as headquarters. Graham would work his magic, drawing in the last of his customers to make a good impression, and Jan would back him up, doing what she did best- all things illegal.

At first, there were face-to-face meetings, which Jan refused to participate in until Graham got a new suit. Graham appealed to the customers, and they made their orders. She made sure to perform even the smallest job well, and when Graham could not extract any orders, Jan would impress upon the customer just how well she could steal. Then they got their first request without seeking it out, and from there the business grew.

It was all a question for Jan. Could she do it? Could she build up something to be successful and strong, as well as trusted? Jan did her job perfectly every time, and Graham was thrilled to be rolling in money once again (apparently he had been rich at some point before she met him). Now Jan was convinced she had done well, but that little trivia had outlasted itself several times over. Jump City had reached the end of its interest for her.

Now the only problem would be breaking it to Graham. There was already a note prepared in her bedroom, written a couple of weeks ago on the assumption that her interest would not last long. The girl had already decided that telling him about her plans would not benefit her, as he would only struggle uselessly. It was best to perform a last job, as a finale, and then leave without a trace.

The best way to get a job nowadays was to go to Graham, who kept records of all offers present. There was almost always an interesting one, and Jan certainly wanted to go out with a bang before disappearing entirely. She walked through the station, accustomed to the hungry stares that trailed after her, and then proceeded down the hallway that led to Graham's office.

His door opened without any sort of warning. Jan poked her head inside and noticed Graham looking at the screen of his laptop, a greasy business look on his face. He always got this look when trying to close a very beneficial deal.

"Graham." Jan said in low tones. Graham's eyes flashed dangerously at her, but then he smiled as he recognized her. Jan knew by now that if she were anyone else, she would have gotten chewed out for interrupting.

"Jan. You two do have good timing when it comes to each other."

"Two?" Jan asked curiously, stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

"Yes. Mr. Slade has decided he wants to hire you for a job." Graham motioned for her to walk into view of the laptop's camera. Jan did so, and saw it was Slade's face that occupied the screen.

"Slade." Jan said with a nod.

"You seem to have healed from our last encounter." Slade observed.

Graham saw the twitch of annoyance in Jan's face and the slight tenseness in her jaw. He was quick to move on.

"So what job do you have in mind?"

"I am aware that Jan never stays in the same city for more than a month. I've taken the liberty of choosing an interesting job."

"Only a month?" Graham said faintly, counting how long he had known the star thief.

Jan closed her eyes briefly, resisting the urge to sigh heavily. This would make things even more difficult. There was also now a question of how much Slade had looked into her background, and what he had found. She found herself liking him even less. When she opened her eyes, she briefly saw that Slade had said it in full knowledge of the trouble it would cause her.

"When, where, and what." Jan decided to ignore Graham's suddenly loss of enthusiasm. "I'll take care of the rest."

"Actually, your usual methods won't work this time. There are certain precautions set up against your antics. I daresay the Titans are tipped off about your singular presence."

"Then what, pray tell, will you be having me do instead?"

Now Jan didn't even have the liberty of setting up her own operation. This man was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Walk through the front door."

**Shieb: Most of this was already written down on paper (boredom in school will do that to you). I finally got to typing a lot of it out. In fact, I wanted to post earlier than I did, but there was so much more to what I had planned that I wanted to make the chapter longer. Nine pages worth is long enough, right?**


	6. Finding Opportunity

Jan did not like sparkling black dresses. She did not trust hiding in plain sight, and she certainly did not enjoy walking through the front door. It was risky, and it took everything in Jan's self control to smile and walk with her escort to the front door. The escort was someone Slade said she should trust, but Jan's paranoia played up. She believed it was not beyond Slade to say one thing and do another. Where was the proof that her escort would not become her enemy later on? It was yet another thing she wouldn't have to deal with, were she alone.

The girl did as she had been instructed earlier, placing her fingers lightly on her escort's forearm and walking up to the door of a large building. They were checked off the list by a man that stood next to one of the large pillars of the museum and research center. Then, four steps into the masquerade, Jan and her masked companion parted.

Jan wandered through the room, trying to make her path look aimless. She focused on cameras and security, making sure to memorize every door, window, guard, and air duct in the room. There were few air ducts here, in the room where everyone was shown famous art while also being treated to fine foods and drinks. It was a shame that Jan's favorite method of transportation was in short supply, but her stomach quickly reminded her that she hadn't eaten at all today, so she maneuvered over to where the good scents came from.

The place was packed. There were all kinds of important and not-so-important people about, and it was a chore for Jan not to flinch away from everything that brushed against her. Self-serving gentlemen passed by her often, trying to make an impression on one person or another. All the movement didn't mask the security, however, which checked in periodically with each other at the same door. It was this door which would lead straight to special pieces of the museum, pieces which were not meant to be shown tonight.

The masks were not appreciated in full, either. Yes, it was a masquerade, and it served Jan well. No one would know her face like this. But she quickly realized that masks were very good at hiding thoughts, expressions, and even eye movement that might otherwise be a fine clue to what was going on around her. If there was security hidden in the crowd, she wouldn't know it.

Everything was making her nervous, and Jan decided to take a breather before she got too fidgety, and eventually twitchy. Aware of security eyes watching her, Jan made her way over to the empty balcony. She needed to discipline herself. Being among people wasn't that scary, was it?

No, she needed to focus. How did you dispel the attention of wary guards? The easy answer was to become part of the crowd, talking and dancing with others. But Jan was awkward in social situations, to say the least. She had neither the experience nor the courage to start a conversation with a guest here just to avoid suspicion. Damn, she wished her escort would hurry up.

"I didn't think there would be anyone else around here that would be around my age."

Jan turned, a bit stiffly, to see Beastboy was talking to her. Shock set her covered features as she picked out the other Titans from the crowd. They must have just gotten here very recently. But what were they doing here? Certainly they didn't think the thief with many faces would strike here. There was no way to predict that.

Beastboy flashed her a fanged smile.

"Wanna dance?"

She smiled kindly.

"Actually, I don't know how to dance properly." Jan said sheepishly. She could feel the mask resting awkwardly on her cheeks.

"That's alright." Cyborg walked up behind Beastboy to put a hand on his scrawny shoulder. "Neither does he."

"Hey! Dude, that is _so_not ok!"

"So what are the Titans doing at a museum masquerade?" Jan laughed.

"Well, we have important stuff to do, you know?" Beastboy's chest puffed out importantly.

"Go figure." Jan said, unimpressed. "You are teen heroes, after all."

Beastboy deflated, and Cyborg laughed.

Jan wanted her escort to hurry up, to take her away from the worst situation imaginable. Then again, it may be the Titans that were deterring him, even if he was finished with his task. In the meantime, she had to see what she could do about being charming. She had never messed with them before without being in the act of thieving something. Quietly, she checked the time.

"Cyborg. Beastboy." Said a familiar, commanding voice. Robin approached, Raven and Starfire trailing after him. "Have you seen anything yet?"

"No, nothing yet." Cyborg turned to look at Robin.

"Well, keep an eye out." Robin said, glancing pointedly at Jan.

"Who is this?" Starfire looked at Jan, her eyes bright. "Have you made a new friend?"

"Call me Jan." The girl said, smiling.

"Jan, huh?" Robin's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, and Jan felt nervousness clench her stomach. "Security says you might be a suspicious figure."

"Why?" She raised an eyebrow, though it might not have been seen.

"You've just acted strange ever since you entered the party. You haven't even spent that much time with your escort- separated with him a few steps into the hall, in fact. It seems strange for you not to participate in a party like this."

Robin's gaze had suddenly turned intense. He glared at her, waiting for any sort of giveaway. Jan carefully controlled her expression, changing her smile to a concerned frown. Why was he so preoccupied with this? Why did he confront her about things that would normally only warrant caution?

"Is there something wrong?" She tried to sound concerned. "I mean, you guys obviously aren't here for the party."

"Robin..." Starfire said a little sadly.

"Sorry, Jan, but we have to stay on high alert." Cyborg said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Would you mind?"

"Ok." Jan shrugged. Hesitating only slightly, she took off her mask and began itching a spot on her cheek. Maybe if she didn't mind revealing her face, Robin's suspicions would lessen. Then she remembered that Robin had seen her face once before- in the alleyway the other day- and wondered whether this would be a problem. What she saw in his reaction was stiff embarrassment, but he didn't comment on it.

"I was invited here even though I'm not exactly coordinated at social events. I like extremely old and new things, you see, so this place obviously attracted me." she explained a little nervously. "Anyways, my partner isn't really someone I know. He had other things to do. As for why I was looking around..." she gestured to the room inside. "Haven't you ever enjoyed architecture?"

God, that was lame. What the hell kind of series of excuses were those? Oh, yeah. Normal ones. No wonder she didn't like them.

Robin frowned. There was still something he didn't like. Jan allowed a little concern on her face, thinking it wasn't strange. The other Titans glanced at each other, and the girl felt this had happened before somehow. Not with her, of course.

"Did I go to the wrong party?" Jan said, looking between their faces.

"Just stay aware." Robin said roughly. He turned on his heel and strode into the crowd of party-goers. Cyborg apologized and the rest gave her odd looks before parting to keep watch for whatever it was they were looking for.

Jan half turned on the balcony so that she could see both inside and outside. After pulling on her mask, she let her mind descend into thought. Robin was extremely uptight. So the Titans already has suspicions or a tip to what was going on. Perhaps they were only working on the many-faced thief theory, or perhaps Robin thought Slade was involved. It certainly would explain a few things. It was a good thing, either way. Yes, Robin would be more aggressive, but he was also more likely to make mistakes.

"Jan."

She readjusted her focus to watch her escort approach. He had something in his hand and walked with a straight back. Jan tried to compare him with Slade, but found Slade was more powerful in presence.

"Taking off your mask was unwise."

"Perhaps. I figured Robin would notice if I tried to hide behind it."

"The damage has been done." he said with little interest, raising his hand so that Jan could take the small ear device from him. She put it in her ear, under the cover of her hair.

"Robin heard about Slade being involved. The boy is obsessed."

"As such," Slade's voice began, "we'll be changing plans. Not that you haven't done well so far, but another opportunity has presented itself."

Jan rolled her eyes. Slade was obviously displeased with some part of her performance. Not that she gave a damn; she was more preoccupied with the sudden change in plan. The thief had studied Slade's first plan for hours, and he was changing them on a dime.

"Follow your escort into the crowd when it's time for the guest of honor to make his speech. Things should fall into place from there."

"Alright." She muttered.

She was given her orders, so Jan settled down into the persona of the thief for hire. Although she was beginning to dislike Slade's control over her work, it was the last job. Jan would just deal with it until she left Jump City. The water's call was becoming agonizing.

Her escort began moving, and Jan followed him without hesitation. She noticed the crowd had begun to settle and crowd near a podium, near which several men stood. The girl noticed the Titans coming closer as well, and became nervous when she realized she was in the middle of them all. Still, she made sure not to look at them and acted oblivious.

The escort stopped, and Jan stopped as well. A man in a grey suit was next to her, staring attentively at the stage. The thief in hiding felt some sort of nervousness from him and glanced toward him, taking in his features quickly. Though he looked to be a wealthy man, there was something dodgy about him.

"Thank you all for coming." A man said at the podium, and the crowd hushed. "I would go on about how wonderful it is to have both old and new history together in the same place, but if you'll humor me, that speech is a little overused. Instead, I'll have to let our guest speaker approach the podium. Let me introduce Mr. Watson, the director of a very famous museum I think we all know."

There was applause from the crowd, quiet and polite. The speaker walked to the podium, smiled, and suddenly the barrel of a gun was alongside Jan's face, pointed toward the guest speaker. Jan didn't think- she reacted. She brought up her elbow and slammed it into the attacker's face while her left hand grabbed the gun hand and pointed it at the ceiling.

The gun shot off and the crowd scattered, screaming. The Titans rushed toward Jan, but she forced herself to focus on the closer threat. A quick kick dropped the gunner to his feet, and the gun was in the girl's hand in the same instant.

Robin walked next to Jan and glanced at the man on the floor. Then he looked at Jan and held out his hand for the gun. Jan frowned. Why should she hand it over?

"It's nice to see that the Titans are as diligent as ever." Mr. Watson said as he approached. Cyborg dragged the gunner up from the ground. "Thank you, miss."

Jan stopped for a moment, surprised at the praise. She had been preparing for some kind of squabble now that she wasn't helpless anymore. But while the Titans were uncertain of her, Watson seemed genuinely glad she was here.

"Er... I'm not one of the Titans." Jan amended.

"Really? With reactions like that?" Watson said, eyes wide.

Damn. How was she going to explain this away? What could she tell them? What could she do to dispel the attention on her? What the hell was Slade thinking?

"I'm so sorry for the secrecy." Jan's escort approached, taking off his hat and bowing his head briefly before placing his hat over his mask again. "I was hoping we wouldn't need to appear for a random shooter, but even the Titan's can't outrun a bullet."

"So that's why you got an ear piece." Beastboy said with dawning comprehension.

Was this part of Slade's plan? her escort seemed to think so, and Jan figured she may as well play along. What other choice did she have?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be quiet about it. It's in the job."

"What job is that, exactly?" Robin raised a brow.

To hell if Jan knew.

"Also secret." The escort said. "But now that our presence is known, we cannot operate quietly. May we help you, Titans?"

"What was your name?" Cyborg spoke up.

"You may call me Johnson."

The cops came in and took away the gunner. Jan finally relinquished the gun. She felt nervous when one of their visors turned her way, but she looked away from them, focusing on the conversation. If something changed, she needed to be aware of it.

"Why are you and Jan here?" Robin didn't quite seem convinced with their earlier story.

"Slade." Johnson said simply.

The Titans seemed to understand where he was coming from. Slade was their target. Jan tried to readjust her awareness of the mission. When she came in, she had planned on using an excuse to get past the guards and sneak into the room filled with museum artifacts. Now she had been redirected with mystery orders, leading to her suddenly being a part of some kind of secret police. So she had somehow turned from a thief in hiding to a thief pretending to be her enemy's ally. How the hell did that happen?

After some more conversation, the Titans agreed to accept the help. They said that, against Slade, they might need the help. Robin didn't want help, but the group's opinions outweighed his.

The party was over, and all the guests who were left were dismissed. No one wanted to stay after a shooter was found. It was fine for the Titans, Jan, and Johnson. They didn't need more people in the way. Jan just thought of it as less interference when she got away. Speaking of which, how was she going to steal the item now?

With darkness taking over the city, the group took patrols. Johnson went on his own, but Jan was put together with Robin, much to both of their distaste. Robin told her not to get in his way. Jan planned to leave as soon as darkness hit.

The halls of the building were eerily quiet. Robin was tense, waiting for any sign of Slade. Jan found his nervousness rubbing off on her, and she watched him with a sharp cautiousness. She was waiting for him to snap.

"So where'd you learn to fight?" Robin's voice suddenly broke the silence. They hadn't seen anything for half an hour. "You made quick work of the assassin."

"I taught myself." Jan said automatically. Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Well, at first."

"Careful with your words." Slade's voice made Jan jump. "Move towards the artifact room. Things are set up."

Robin looked at Jan peculiarly. Jan realized her suddenly silence and look of concentration must have seemed odd. But the girl was back in her area of expertise, ready to go thieving, so all of her awkwardness was lost.

"I'm heading toward the artifacts."

"I thought you wanted to work with us." Robin said touchily.

"And I will help you with Slade and trust you to watch my back in conflict." What a lie. "But I take orders from someone else."

Jan turned to head away from Robin, but the boy trotted up to her side in the next second.

"It's not safe to wander alone." the boy affirmed aggressively.

"You just don't want me to get the only action." Jan laughed.

"If your boss thinks there's something there, there must be a reason." Robin smiled.

Their steps became unusually loud to Jan. Her nerves slowly built, despite her attempts to wrestle them down. Robin couldn't be allowed to see her steal the item. What would happen instead?

Both Jan and Robin stopped at the same time, having a bad feeling in their guts. While Robin prepared for some kind of battle, Jan just stood as an observer. The lights went out, and there were several sounds that indicated the arrival of other bodies. There were two small, red lights in front of Robin and Jan. Then there were flashes of red and Jan felt something hit her in the chest and throw her back.

The girl cursed; she couldn't help it as she landed harshly on the ground. More bodies landed around her, but they didn't seem interested in attacking her now that she was separated from Robin.

"You should be able to perform the thievery from here." Slade's voice said quietly in Jan's ear.

Jan looked up, finding an entrance to the air ducts above her in the red flashes of the sladebot's guns. She jumped up, held onto a groove, and kicked the vent in. Once inside, she proceeded to make her way to the artifact room. All she needed to do now was steal it and get out.

"I think you will find the purpose of this assignment interesting." The earpiece buzzed a little. "It actually has something to do with you."

"You're suddenly talkative." Jan mumbled, kicking out another vent and dropping in on a dark artifact room. She was surprised to hear Slade talking back.

"It didn't seem prudent to distract you. Now there's more time."

"You must be mistaken." Jan kept her voice low. "The time hasn't changed at all."

"Quite the contrary."

Jan made her way to the item Slade had specified. With the entire building down, she just broke the glass to grab the decrepit-looking object without worrying about the alarms. Then there were loud bangs at the door, and Jan just knew it was the Titans again.

"Get out now." Slade ordered, and Jan disappeared into the air duct again.

The thief moved as quietly as she could, aware that she was on a time limit now. The purpose was to escape with as little conflict as possible. Then she would be home free, heading to the ocean after this piece was delivered.

"You're a hard person to find, you know." Slade continued. He was getting on the thief's nerves. "Even when I predict your movements, there's no telling how long you'll stay in place for one trivia or another."

"I thought that was the point." Jan said quietly, looking through a vent on the side to see if she was being tracked.

"You run because you're weak."

"What was that?" she growled.

"This item and I could make you strong. Have you ever felt the need to become stronger, Janus?"

She paused. The girl's memory went back to when she had fought Slade for the thumbdrive of information. When he beat her, when she found he was so far out of her league, a feeling had emerged in her. From then on, she had an urge to get stronger than him. But why did it sound like he was offering just this?

"Take a right up ahead. You'll have to find a way onto the roof."

Jan maneuvered as she was ordered.

From what he said, Slade had known about Jan for a while and had attempted to track and find her. He had probably known about her before he confronted her. Knowing Slade, this was all planned out. And now he was seemingly offering to make her stronger. Was he asking her to stay here in Jump City as well?

The night air greeted Jan. She discarded her mask and looked around. It was a miracle she hadn't run into the Titans yet. Or perhaps she had just jinxed it.

"Any last orders?" Jan muttered.

Silence. No answer came, even as Jan walked around the roof looking for ways off. On one side, there was some construction. Steel beams shaped out the space for which they were going to build onto the already huge museum and research center.

A sudden battle cry caused Jan to spin around to see Slade flying toward her, fist pulled back. The blow was narrowly avoided, and Jan's confusion was obliterated when she became preoccupied with fighting. Slade moved quickly and seemed intent on beating the thief into the ground. She had no choice but to fight back.

A blue beam of energy shot down in between Jan and Slade. Both jumped away from Cyborg, who landed between them. The rest of the Titans appeared, all facing Slade.

"You alright?" Raven asked, floating down next to Jan.

"I'm fine." Jan confirmed, wondering what Slade could be up to.

"Titans." Slade said in greeting. "Nice of you to show up."

Robin growled. Jan couldn't see his face, but she was sure it was twisted with some kind of anger. Slade seemed to find it amusing.

One enemy suddenly turned into many as sladebots appeared from nowhere. The Titans looked around. Jan sighed and ripped off her dress, revealing thin, black half pants and a spaghetti strap shirt.

"Do you ever run out of these things?" Beastboy squeaked, looking at the horde of robots.

"I would entertain you, but I'm afraid I have a business contract to finish."

The robots jumped into the fray, engaging even Jan. She parried and kicked as needed, smashing in several masked faces. Another one of those guns burnt her arm, but that was quickly pushed to the back of her mind.

Robin never lost track of Slade, heading straight for him. The two fought, Robin frustratingly far away from ever winning. Slade played with him for a little bit, but a swarm of sladebots suddenly leaped on the two. Robin struggled with the robots and his frustration while Slade headed straight for Jan.

"Cyborg! Help Jan!" The boy shouted as he swung his staff into a sladebot, shattering its side.

Cyborg confirmed and pointed an energy beam at Slade, who jumped over it and almost managed to successfully ambush Jan. Jan tilted out of Slade's fist range and tried a kick to his ribs. Slade caught it and pulled Jan closer, reaching for the item still in her hand. She automatically leaned further from him and lifted her other leg to kick Slade in the face.

As Cyborg came closer and engaged Slade, it clicked in Jan's head. Since the Titans had talked to Jan, Slade had decided to work with it, tricking the Titans into thinking she was their ally. Right now, he was maintaining that image, attacking her. Jan was not allowed to give up the item in her hand unless Slade forced it from her. At least things made more sense, now.

"What's that?" Cyborg said, motioning to the item in Jan's hand while Raven tried to preoccupy Slade.

"The item he's after." Jan said truthfully, watching Slade warily as he outmaneuvered Raven and threw a freed Robin at her.

"Alright." Cyborg said while charging up the cannon in his right arm. "Then we just need to keep him away from you."

Jan laughed nervously.

"Good luck."

Cyborg's cannon was shot at Slade's feet, and the man leapt into the air. Starfire tried throwing starbolts, but the man twisted to avoid them and kicked the approaching Robin.

Beastboy charged Slade as he landed, and the man wrapped his hands around the green bull's horns, stopping Beastboy. Then the bull was twisted onto his back with little effort. Raven tried to grab Slade with her abilities, but he was too quick. From his belt, Slade pulled some discs and threw them at Cyborg and Jan. Cyborg tried to blow up the discs before they were too close with his cannon, but it was a useless action. The explosion caused more smoke than fire.

"Shit." Jan said as the smoke enveloped her. This was something else she used on her opponents often, almost always guaranteeing they didn't know where she was. Suspiciously, she tried to peer into the smoke and sense Slade.

The blow was hard, hit her in the ribs, and sent her flying to the edge of the building. With a cough, Jan pushed herself up from the ground and looked toward the smoke cloud. Slade emerged from it, holding the item in front of him and his other arm behind his back.

"For someone who's so fond of smoke bombs, you don't fight very well in them." He observed, and Jan frowned.

Sladebots jumped into the smoke cloud, and Jan knew she and Slade would have some time.

"What's the matter?" Slade asked suddenly. "Not going to take it back?"

_'As you wish.'_ Jan thought as her hand edged toward her beltline.

Several reflective discs shone between Jan's fingers, and they suddenly began glowing orange. Slade had experienced this before, and dodged out of the way of the explosion. Jan did not hesitate, drawing a dagger from God only knows where and rushing toward her opponent. She sliced through the air and Slade spun around, his foot soaring half an inch from Jan's head. The girl lunged forward and Slade sidestepped. A fist met Jan's ribs, and then, in a flash, she was flying off the side of the building and heading straight for a metal beam.

What was wrong with him? Slade offered to make her stronger, and then he threw Jan off a building!

A hand shot out and grabbed Jan's wrist as she was trying to twist so that she could find a way to land. She looked up to see Slade. Was that a glare? Then he turned to look toward the noises the Titans were making. Apparently, they had made it out of the smoke and past the robots.

"Let her go, Slade," Robin growled.

"Well, if I must," Slade said in a mocking tone.

And then he let go.

**Shieb: Yes, perhaps posting this was actually a bad thing to be done. After all, I stated since the beginning that this wasn't to be regularly updated, yet this ending will no doubt make you want to read what happens next. I'm just horrible like that. So what has Slade got in store for Jan?  
><strong>


	7. Item of Interest

Jan was caught, but not in time. Her head hit a metal beam in the construction area before Starfire swooped down, and Slade escaped in all the fuss with the stolen item. By then, their main concern was Jan, who was unconscious.

The somewhat mysterious girl was sent to a hospital, and the Titans watched over her, checking in periodically as she began to make a recovery. Her health wasn't in any extreme danger, but her head was cracked open from the force of her fall. An unfortunate side effect was that she didn't remember anything.

It was a natural instinct to be untrusting of these people who didn't know her well, but still kept checking in on her. Starfire came in often, eager to have a new friend. Jan noticed that Robin was just outside the door more than once, but he rarely came in. Still, they all seemed nice enough, so she allowed herself to relax marginally around them.

Even though her head healed up well and there were no cognitive problems, Jan wasn't allowed to leave the hospital for a while. They said it was to make sure there was no more damage. It wasn't too bad of a thing to deal with, but it made Jan nervous. She was told she had been supposedly part of a secret agency, but no one came to pick her up. It was very suspicious, and it made Jan want to force her way out. What if she had lied? What if she had become a loose end, and whoever came for her came to kill her?

The thing that made it worse was what she later heard. The man that had escorted her for the night and told the Titans that their employment and mission were a secret had sabotaged the night, turning off the lights and fighting off the Titans. If he was against them, why wouldn't she be? She wondered if he had diverted from what their superiors said, or if she had.

It seemed that Jan was an ally of the Titans. She had not joined in the thievery, although she had acquired the item of question in order to foil Slade. Who was the traitor was uncertain, but the fact of the matter was that she was an enemy of Slade. He had fought her without reserve to acquire the item, which he did, and then he dropped her off the side of a building, which had led to her current state.

Slade. She tried to remember him, mainly at the behest of a slightly annoyed Robin. Even when she closed her eyes and tried very hard, the best she could get was a flash of his mask as she was falling away, and then a wave of rage. Nothing else came to her, and it was all very far away, as if she had watched it from a distance instead of lived it. The only thing that stuck with her was that feeling of rage. Whoever Slade was, she had not liked him in the end.

It didn't take too long for the hospital to become unbearable. With Robin watching for her to go rogue and the rest of the team inundating her with friendship and well wishings, the small room was fast stifling her. Despite that, she did her best to hold onto her sanity. In order to stave off persistent humming or tapping, she found ways to entertain herself. She found that if she pulled on the mirror in the bathroom with her mind ever so gently, she could actually distort the figure it reflected. The girl also accidentally broke a couple of machines because she had tried this too hard on their displays, since they were closer. She could barely manipulate those dull, scratched up screens, but the mirror seemed to work easily.

Despite this exercise of what she assumed was some sort of power she possessed, her weariness returned without her bidding. Her legs itched to walk on something that was not white, with real shoes. She started moving in her room, at night, when it was safe. The doctors and nurses came by to check about once every couple of hours, though, so she still had to be careful. Even then, it was hard to stifle her heavy breathing after a brief work-out.

Finally, the day came when she was released. Her name was Jan. She heard it said almost a million times that day, it seemed. She was glad to be back out on the streets, but she found her clothes were unbearably... Oh, what was it? They were simply too normal for her.

Starfire cheered for Jan's release. Jan did her best to smile.

"Yay! Is it not wonderful to walk about now?" Starfire giggled, hovering in the air outside the hospital.

"Yeah. Nice to have real shoes, too."

Jan looked at her feet. She was at last wearing shoes, but these were sneakers. She felt like the hospital had planned on sending her to a tennis match right after her release. Oh well, at least she wasn't barefoot in the city.

"So, where are you going to go?" Cyborg asked in a friendly manner.

Jan frowned a little. She finally nodded in the direction of the sea. The Titans looked. Cyborg looked back at her, confused.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't catch that. Where, exactly?"

"There's no 'exactly'. I'll just be going in that direction." Jan said, motioning her hand in the direction of the docks.

"Do you make all your choices like that?" Beastboy asked, staring skeptically at the water far away.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like, without actually weighing anything, just choosing a random direction."

"It's not random."

"It's not? I could have sworn..." Beastboy mumbled.

"Then where are you going?" Now it was Robin speaking up. "You have a place to go, right?"

"No." Jan said flatly.

"Then why were you just telling us you were going that way?" Starfire asked.

"Because I wanna go that way!" Jan said, becoming exasperated.

"Where are you going that's in that direction?" Starfire was really trying to narrow this down.

"Nowhere!" Jan finally exclaimed. "My gut is just telling me to go in that direction." She continued with much hand movement.

"Why don't you just stay with us?" Cyborg said uncertainly. "Until you figure out exactly where you're going. Just to be safe."

"Oh, no. No way. I am not staying where bird brain can breathe down my neck." Jan finally said, irking Robin.

"Robin is just trying to help." Starfire said a little sadly, though she knew full well Robin's tendencies.

"I know, I know. He's just checking to see who crossed the line. But he seems to think that maybe I wasn't entirely honest. What if I was the one who crossed the line, but not the way he thinks? What if I was the one who disobeyed orders and tried to keep it away from Slade?" Jan clarified.

The group was silent. Beastboy was messing with something on the ground. Raven gave Jan a straight, even look. The other two were struggling with figuring out something to say. Not Robin, though. He gave Jan a steady look, which spoke clearly to the girl. She was not trusted. She could tell he didn't like the idea of being wrong, either.

"Look, I've spent way too long in a place that smells like bleach and chlorine. A few of my brain cells probably died just by sitting there, and my legs are itching to move. Talk to me later. I won't leave immediately. Just let me be for a while."

There was a tentative agreement. Jan decided, based on their muted reaction, to watch out for being tailed by any of them. She headed off with hands in the meager pockets of the normal jeans she was wearing. Perhaps, if she walked around, she could blow off some steam.

It wasn't as though she didn't like the Titans. They were ok. But she trusted them about as much as they trusted her. As hopeful as some of them were for a friendship, she just didn't seem to be the type. In fact, she was holding Robin as far away as he was holding her. She doubted they would ever see eye-to-eye.

The streets of Jump City were strangely familiar. She walked through them warily, waiting for someone to jump out at her or pull some kind of crap that the dirt of the alleyways usually did. But although whispering groups went silent as she passed by, none of them pursued her. In fact, she could have sworn some of them gawked at her as she went by.

It didn't take long for Jan to notice that she was drawn to the familiar backstreets of the city. Nor did it take long for her to suspect she was being followed, and she rounded a block to rejoin the main street and notice the over-rushed form of a green bird, which had taken all three right turns.

Jan headed for the clothing stores to window shop, peeking through the glass to see what kinds of things there were. She found there were always pieces of clothing that she liked, but never the entire style. She'd like the arms of one shirt, the torso of another, and the wrists of a third. All together, they would have looked nice, but alone they were as useless as this overly-large work-out shirt. Perhaps if she got fabric... No, then she'd have to steal it, and with a second bird boy hovering over her, that would not happen.

Boredom descended quickly, and gave birth to slightly mischievous thoughts. While the Titans switched off following her, Jan made it a game to lose them. She did it in inconspicuous ways, dodging around corners and into small nooks that were hidden to most, or that only she seemed to know existed. She came around the same alley more than once, though she couldn't remember why. There was only an abandoned subway entrance, and she had no inclination to enter it.

Jan's game proceeded into the night. Titan after Titan lost track of her, and when one finally tried to speak to her, she made it the most difficult for him to find her. No cyborg could sense much through a wall full of lead. Since then, each tail happened with more and more discrepancy until Robin finally came out.

By this time, Jan had explored running on rooftops. This also seemed to be an easy task for her. She could both make the large leaps required and map out her path ahead of time, almost completely getting rid of those moments when she realized the jump was just too far.

Robin had chosen what Jan suspected to be the wrong time to tail her, because the thrill of the rooftops made him easier to spot. While Jan had fun with her street parkour, he tried to keep up with her while staying out of her line of sight. She let him think he was hidden for a time. However, when she tried to lose him, she found him even more difficult than the others. Raven had been the champion in Jan's mind, due to her ability to phase through walls. But Robin was so persistent, he easily took first place within a half-hour.

The leaps eventually took Jan to a rooftop that gave her an idea. There was an entrance on top of this building, and Jan swerved to duck in front of it. She opened it and swung it wide, then hid behind it and let it go while Robin shot past the door. He stopped, saw the door closing, and didn't hesitate to dive inside with an angry noise made under his breath. Jan waited quietly on the other side until she heard the door shut. Then she bolted in another direction and dropped down onto the ground. Finally, he was gone.

Without someone tailing her, Jan found her walks through Jump City to be fairly relaxing. The city was beautiful, and although the lights were bright, the stars could still be seen at night. After losing Robin, Jan's feet took her to the docks. She stood there, quiet and watching the lights play on the waves.

Where was she going to go? Jan knew she had an overwhelming urge in her stomach to leave Jump City and go across the water. But she doubted she could swim wherever she was going, so she'd have to wait for a free boat. Even then...

Perhaps the Titans were right. Maybe she should bunk somewhere else until she had everything figured out. There was a possibility that she would regain her memories if she just stayed in Jump City. But the will to leave was overpowering. She didn't just want to go. She _needed_ to go. It was difficult believing anything otherwise.

Why was this urge so strong?

Just standing there thinking about it was unbearable. Her feet moved without much thought on her part. She just wanted to get a slightly different view, that was all. Jan proceeded down a dock, her footsteps quiet on the wooden boards.

From out of nowhere, a hulking figure sprung up. Jan recognized the posture, and then was flying back. She flew so far, she hit the warehouse all the way behind her and left a dent in it. There were spasms of pain from all along her spine, but she recognized that nothing was broken.

_'Jan?'_

_'Jan.'_

_'Jan!'_

_'Jan, why?'_

_'You know what has to be done, Jan.'_

_'JAN!'_

_'Run, Jan!'_

She shook her head ferociously as voices erupted in her head. One hand on her head, she pushed herself from the dent in the wall and landed weakly. Slowly, the voices faded out, and Jan focused on the form that walked slowly toward her. It was a giant that mimicked the human shape. It seemed to be made out of some kind of cement. There was nothing Jan could see being used against it, except maybe the water.

Her hand lowered from her head as the cement man stopped. He stared at her for a moment. For a few moments, neither moved. Out of curiosity, Jan took a step to the side. He did not move. So Jan turned and began to walk toward the exit to the docks.

The blow was so fast, she was barely able to jump back out of the way- the wind from this punch had her clothes moving like there was a storm coming to the docks. She ducked under a second punch and got backed up against the warehouse. While Jan ran from under the blows, the giant ripped apart the warehouse wall.

Jan made a run for it while the giant was searching the dust cloud. But as she turned down to head for the city, five robots that looked the same descended before her. Two on the roof and three right in front of her, they all had shiny metal hands and black and orange faces. According to the Titans' earlier description, these were what were called 'sladebots'.

The girl began to back up, but the cement giant blocked off her other route of escape. There would be no choice but to fight. Jan didn't particularly like the idea. She was finding thoughts of dodging beneath their blows and disappearing much more appetizing, but what the cement giant lacked in speed, the sladebots made up for. She'd have to fight in as balanced a form as she could.

The cement giant came on first, ripping a light post out of the ground and swinging it as he came on. She jumped over the swing and kicked his head as she passed over, making the giant lose his balance and crash down. The sladebots were too quick, however, and dodged out of the giant's way. The two on the roof began shooting with laser guns of some sort, and the other three came at Jan.

Their blows were fast enough to make Jan worry, but she believed she could dodge them all as long as she paid attention. She elbowed one in the face very hard and saw sparks fly as it fell to the ground, and then managed to give another one a good kick, which sent it flying. Another came up behind her and grabbed her arms, holding her. Jan wasn't sure what for until she heard the giant make an angry grunt. He ran at her, arm raised. There weren't many options, but Jan just managed to run up the giant's torso when it was close enough and flip over the robot. The overpowered punch hit the robot, and Jan scrambled to loosen herself from its torso's grip. Just when she thought she had herself free, the robot began functioning again and refused to release her one arm.

Fine. If it wanted to be stubborn, Jan could play. The giant kept swinging at her, and when she was done trying to pry the damned robot off her arm, she ran up the giant's arm and slammed the sladebot torso into the giant's head. She thought it was clever. The cement giant was not as amused.

The giant hit faster, and what Jan also suspected to be harder. She did her best to focus on dodging out of the way. Unfortunately, she had also momentarily forgotten about the sladebots on the roofs, and a laser from one of them hit her in the back. While she was stunned, smoke rising from the back of her normal shirt, the giant picked her up and hurled her into another warehouse. This time, she went through the wall.

She bounced like a rag doll on the ground and lay there in the dirt for a couple of moments. What was wrong with her? Wasn't she supposed to be stronger than this? Oh, hell, how was she supposed to know? She only had amnesia, after all!

With a grunt, she pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked at the cement giant as he stepped through the hole in the wall and walked toward her. There was really nothing to do other than get up and keep going, so Jan did so with a pained sigh. The back of her head pounded. Those damn voices were coming back.

_'Jan? Where are you?'_

_'Come over here, I'll show you something.'_

_'Jan...'_

_'Would anybody but me be so nice?'_

_'Quit crying, girl.'_

The sudden jump caught the girl off-guard, and the only thing she could do was put her arms up in defense. She crashed through several layers of boxes before finally hitting the other wall. Slowly, she slid down and slumped onto the ground.

_She was sitting outside in a clearing. Her best friend was there, too. Safia. With blond hair and big, blue eyes. They were picking flowers around them and comparing them. Daisies to baby's breath. Forget-me-nots to yarrows. They didn't know the names. But they knew the colors._

_A shadow overcame them, and the two girls looked up. A big hand reached down. Safia screamed._

"Safia."

Jan came back to her senses. She looked up to see Cyborg between her and the cement giant. Starfire was also there, her hands aglow. What were they doing here? According to the lack of destruction in the room, Jan could only assume they had only just arrived.

It was strange. In this moment, she felt incredibly clear. Her name was Jan. She was a thief, and worse. She was in the wrong company. She had to leave Jump City. But even those simple facts were fast fleeing her.

With little effort, Jan pushed herself up from the ground. The idea of protecting Safia, her old friend, pervaded for a moment before she reminded herself that Safia was not there. She'd have to focus to keep everything straight.

"Good. You're awake. Just give us a moment." Cyborg said with a smile.

Jan didn't wait for a moment. She stepped forward, and then was in front of the cement giant, giving him a spin kick that sent him sideways. Then her heel came down, and his face met the dirt. With another kick and a cry, she sent him skidding backwards into the wall.

For a moment, she stood there. Her body was tired and beaten. Just kicking that huge lug made her legs vibrate in the same way sleeping limbs would. Not that she was incapable of it, but Jan was not generally a strength fighter.

Still, she needed to end this now. As the cement giant rose, Jan was already starting to lose her clarity. The confused young girl was beginning to return, taking all the seriousness away from Jan. She had to focus. Be strong. See it to the end. But the little girl wanted nothing more than to run.

The giant stood on its two feet. Both Starfire and Cyborg's weapons were glowing, ready to strike. They seemed to have shaken off their momentary shock. The cement giant roared.

"Lookie what I found in the boxes you broke." Jan said with an evil grin, holding up shining fragments of metal. There was only a moment for confusion before Jan threw them, and then they glowed and exploded with such force that Jan, standing so close, had to stumble back.

Her renewed clarity seemed to draw more trouble, however. Around the trio appeared a new horde of sladebots. And not just three to five. There were at least thirty-five of them crammed into the little warehouse with Cyborg, Starfire, Jan, and the cement giant. All of them held up little orbs, and all of them threw down the smoke bombs.

Jan closed her eyes. She could sense the stuff was bad for her senses before the burning sensation stung her nostrils. It wasn't like she would be able to see anyone through the smoke, anyways. Her time was running out. She couldn't remember where she came from.

Something tried to swipe at her, but Jan felt the wind before the blow and caught the offending hand. Gripping it curiously, she tilted her head to the side and gave a small smile. Perhaps this wasn't entirely hopeless.

"You, sir, have a very shiny metallic hand." Jan said. She would have to imagine the look of confusion on the robot's face.

With a motion, Jan sent the offending robot back. She extended her senses, desperate to get at everything before her sanity left her. Jan could sense, one by one, the robots around her, their shiny metallic parts proving to be a very malleable substance for Jan. She took hold of them with her mind, lifting them from the ground and pulling them away from Cyborg and Starfire. One sladebot got smart and shot at the source of the disturbance. Jan, however, only stumbled forward. They did not drop. In fact, Jan drew her open hands in to her sides and balled them up into fists. As she did so, the many shiny parts of the robots twisted and collapsed upon themselves, making the robots effectively useless.

Then Jan allowed herself to start coughing because of the gas. She tried to breathe through the fabric of her shirt, but it didn't do well. Desperately, she tried to hold onto anything about who she was. In the end, she crouched there with an image of Safia's face in her mind. Eyes squinted tight, she did everything she could to remember that one person. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Innocent smile.

"Here."

Someone put something over Jan's mouth. After she realized it wasn't something meant to harm her, Jan held the cloth to her mouth. Breathing into it made her feel better while someone led her out of the warehouse.

"You can open your eyes now."

She did. She looked at Robin, who looked slightly miffed about losing a chance to really fight. He didn't have the full picture about the situation, but this made it clear to him that Jan was a person of interest to Slade still. That made her a person of interest to Robin.

"Jan, are you alright?" Starfire said kindly. She landed next to Jan and put a hand on her arm. Jan flinched away, realizing there was a cut there.

"Yeah, um..."

Jan looked around, suddenly confused. There was something...

"What's wrong?" Robin asked.

"I don't know. I just... feel like there was something important that I was supposed to remember."

**Shieb: I've found this fanfic has a special kind of quality to it. I was wondering why it was so hard to start writing for all my other fanfics, and then I came to this one and read pieces of it over again, and it just got my blood pumping. This fanfic is _fun_. Take a lesson, kids. If it ain't fun for you, it won't be fun for anybody else. You'd have to be really disciplined to keep writing something that's always serious.**

**P.S. I went through and re-read this story 'cus I was in the mood, and I edited what mistakes I saw.  
><strong>


	8. X

Nobody was confused more by Jan's fleeting clarity than Jan herself. It confused everyone, of course, but things were as they were. Jan could not remember anything from before, like where she came from or who her friends were. And she was certainly the only one confused, waking up in Titans Tower after passing out.

The sheets were comfortable, and the room seemed to be painted as a dark sky and red-dirt canyons. Jan looked about nervously. Once boredom was strong enough to override the feeling that originally forbade her to leave the bed, she explored. The room was fairly bare, and the door was automatic. She flinched nervously as it opened in front of her.

The hallways were empty, and Jan wandered them aimlessly until she heard noise. It was the rambunctious voices of teenagers at play. Cautiously, quietly, she made her way toward the noises. Eventually, they led her to a set of double-doors, which she assumed were also automatic. They hissed open almost silently amidst the noise of Robin and Beastboy playing video games while Raven and Starfire seemed in deep conversation. Hesitant to enter, Jan watched from the doorway.

"So, you're finally awake." Cyborg said from behind Jan, who leapt into the room with surprise. "I was going to see if you were, but the room was empty when I got there."

Jan turned to look at the view that was behind the game screen. It was a perfect view of the city from here. That was when she realized where she was. Strange how that simple thought made her shoulders even more tense. Why was she here? Why did she feel like she shouldn't be?

Robin and Beastboy turned away from their game. Starfire and Raven paused in their conversation, and Starfire waved. Jan gave a lame wave back.

"Why am I, um... here?" Jan asked.

"Slade's still out there." Robin said from the couch.

"We figured we'd let you stay here until you got back on your feet. You hungry?" Cyborg asked, heading to the kitchen.

"Uh, no, I'm fine." Jan said. Her stomach loudly disagreed.

"It's about time to eat, anyway." Beastboy said, bounding off the couch to join Cyborg in the kitchen.

Slowly, Jan walked further into the room. It struck her just how huge this place was, and she was actually starting to like it. There were all sorts of high-tech things here. As she looked around at the walls, she saw so much more than just the large TV that was projected onto the window. Finally, she sat on a stool near the kitchen.

"So, what's your type? Breakfast burrito? Steak? You haven't eaten in a whole day." Cyborg said, pulling out pots and pans.

"How about a nice tofu hotdog?" Beastboy said, wiggling his eyebrows at Jan.

"Ain't nobody want tofu." Cyborg scolded Beastboy, glaring before pulling various meats out of the refrigerator.

"Of course people want tofu!" Beastboy exclaimed before the two went into a very long-winded argument about tofu and why people did or did not want it. It didn't take long for Jan to understand that Beastboy was a vegetarian, and Cyborg was almost entirely the opposite. According to the way everybody else was reacting, this was normal.

"Hey, Jan!" She turned to see Robin. "Why don't you play a game while you're waiting?"

"One of those games?" Jan asked, pointing at the screen.

"Yeah, come here."

Robin motioned with the free controller. The girl found herself hesitating, but got up from the stool and took the controller, sitting on the couch. She didn't even know if she had ever played these games before, but the form of the controller felt natural, and it was wireless, so she wasn't worried about getting tangled or tripping.

"So... What's the game?"

"Mecha Fighter 9," Robin replied.

"Basically, robot boxing?" Jan asked, seeing a flash of two robots in a ring on the menu before Robin selected something.

"Basically. Go ahead and make your own profile."

It took Jan a little bit to get used to the controls, and she quickly found that she did not like being new to something. The controller, though its form fit her hands well, was not something her fingers knew as well, and so she had to learn every button as fast as she could without tarnishing her pride and asking questions. After her profile was made, it was off to selecting her robot. Robin promised to go easy on her after she chose one that had a very balanced set of stats. She figured he didn't trust in her ability to fight because of her obvious awkwardness and the all-around low stats of her robot. She just smirked in reply.

In the first round, she was immediately smashed down to the ground. Robin's fingers were quick on the buttons, and Jan learned very fast how to dodge, jump, and move on screen. By the second round, she was exploring different ways to attack, but she didn't dish out much damage. She could hear Cyborg calling taunts from the kitchen.

On the final round, Jan mashed the defense button. Robin kept coming at her, and she would dodge when she found an opening to do so. It became a sort of game for Robin to try and predict where she would dodge to, but she had him right where she wanted him when he thought he knew how she moved.

Robin mashed the buttons he thought would end the game as Jan's health slipped down to the lower tier. Here was her opening, and she took it with a quick pressing of three buttons at once. The result was a combo that she hadn't known was there- she was aiming for some other move she had seen previously- but it knocked Robin's robot back, and his health down to half. Robin was stunned, but Jan kept moving forward. She couldn't afford any more hits to her health, so she focused on dodging and retaliation. In a shocking set of accidents, she knocked Robin down to her little sliver of health. The two robots wrestled with each other on screen, and the more experienced player managed to throw Jan's robot onto its back, ending the game.

Robin gave a huge sigh of relief and grinned at Jan.

"You almost had me there," he admitted.

"Oh." Jan said, staring at her controller. "So that's what those buttons do."

There was what Jan assumed was a stunned silence. And then Cyborg, behind her with a plate of hot food, busted up laughing. Beastboy joined in not too long after while Starfire looked on in confusion. Raven seemed uninterested. She was still in the back, but with a book floating in front of her now.

"You almost got beat by a newbie!" Cyborg burst out.

Robin didn't seem very happy about it, but at least he had won the game. It would have been infinitely more embarrassing if he had actually lost. Starfire congratulated Jan on a job well done, although Jan had by now captured the plate of food and was munching hungrily on a stack of ribs.

Robin smiling and being friendly was strange to Jan. She expected a more determined, less friendly version of him, but he seemed nice enough. The girl enjoyed his company much better this way, anyways, since he actually made for good conversation. Everybody else was fine as well, and Jan learned to deal with how over-eager they could be sometimes. If there was anything she appreciated the most in the Titans Tower, it was Raven's silence. She was good at watching and listening, which was something that seemed very rare in the Titans once they were home.

There were many more games to be played and things to watch on TV that Jan was swept away with this new way of living. She couldn't help but believe that she hadn't had these things before. In fact, she almost got a guilty feeling whenever she would first start to experience something. She even started thanking them excessively.

It was a good day. There wasn't much talk of Slade or Jan's memory loss. Still, it was strange to just enjoy things as they were. It was almost too stagnant, but she still somehow managed to enjoy it. To Jan, it was obvious that she was easily bored and tended to seek out things that would end that boredom. Even with the endless games and new things to play with, however, she expected herself to get as bored as she always did. Perhaps the difference was the people she was around.

However, when night came, she found it was a very different story. Jan was fairly tired- enough to sleep. But as she lay in the bed, she found her eyes would not close for very long. An hour passed, and then two. Finally, she could not stand it. The girl threw the covers from herself and tried pacing across the room. If anything, that just made her more energetic, so she walked down to the room where she had spent the day.

Not that she knew what to do there, but Jan wandered around there for a while, curious as to what she could find to do. Finally, out of desperation, she began cleaning. It was little things at first- the couch, the floors, putting the gaming gear away, and such. Then she started digging for things, and she found several books that seemed to have been hidden away, a pair of toenail clippers, a ball of yarn, and several odd things that were placed around the room in what Jan thought would be their appropriate places, depending on who used the items.

She didn't clean everything, of course. But she did have a nasty fight with the fridge, which she thoroughly worried had some sort of part-werewolf food that came alive at night. She could have sworn those things were not in there earlier that day.

Eventually, the door to the living area opened up, and Raven floated through.

"Can't sleep?" She asked quietly as Jan tied the garbage can securely closed.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Jan replied, just as quiet.

"Not really. I didn't know you were here until I heard you while I was in the hallways."

"So I shouldn't be too loud for everyone else?"

"No."

There was silence as Raven watched Jan bravely tangle with the leftover spoiled food in the fridge and freezer. Most things she could tell at a glance were dangerous. At least with Raven here, she could ask to make sure about some things that seemed on the edge. There were quite a few things that had been in there for far too long.

"Looks like we'll need to restock soon."

"Yeah."

"Thanks," Raven said after a moment.

"'Welcome." Jan replied after an equally long pause. "There are some books I found around the room. They're over there."

Raven turned and floated over to the pile of books that were stacked where she had been sitting earlier that day. She picked up a few, and Jan heard a few remarks that told her she had been right to find them. Raven had been searching for many of them for months, now, and she was glad to have most of them back. Or, at least, Jan assumed she was glad. Raven showed her happiness in different ways than the rest of the hyper Titans, but just a small smile told Jan that Raven was thrilled, and it made Jan's night.

So, once Jan was done with the kitchen and hauled out the dangerous garbage, she figured she was done for the night. Tiredness was finally starting to take hold of her. Raven was eager to return her books to their rightful places in her room, so the two proceeded to the bedrooms and said goodnight.

"I can finally go back to sleep." Raven sighed, her books floating beside her.

"Were you keeping an eye on me?" Jan asked. Raven gave an odd look. "Don't worry. I don't blame you. A stranger walking around your home in the dead of night? I'd be cautious, too."

Although Jan pulled it off as something that didn't bother her, it did. As soon as the bedroom door closed behind her, she sighed deeply. It didn't feel good to be mistrusted. In fact, it almost convinced Jan that she was going to have someone looking over her shoulder for the rest of her stay here. Despite the struggle she would have to go through, it made her want to get out soon. But she doubted it would happen. Not now, anyway.

Jan was out almost as soon as she hit the sheets. It was nice to be tired, and she felt accomplished after cleaning up what she could in the living space. Then her mind descended into sleep, and she experienced dreams, which she found odd for some reason.

The alarm woke Jan from sleep. According to the daylight trying to get in past the drapes, it was already well past noon. The red flashing and loud wailing of the alarm, however, distracted Jan from the fact that she should be up and, in fact, made her wish she could nod off again.

The door opened. Raven was standing there, the jewel on her clothing glowing in time with the siren.

"Get up. We've got to go. Oh, and this is for you."

A bag was tossed over. Jan caught it uncertainly, and reached inside to immediately pull out a pink shirt. She looked at Raven in what she imagined to be an expression somewhere between 'are you trying to kill me' and 'you've gotta be joking.' Raven shrugged.

"Starfire thought it'd look cute. There are some other ones on the bottom."

Thank God, too. Raven left Jan to get dressed. She found a group of black clothes at the bottom, nothing too fancy- a sleeveless shirt, pants, a coat she wouldn't be wearing today, and boots. Nice. Simple. Comfortable.

Once she got out of her room, Jan hurried down the hallways with Raven to meet up with the rest of the crew. As soon as Robin saw the two of them jogging up, he announced they were leaving.

Jan found it was strange that she was going with them. After all, she was just a guest. A part of her just wanted to go back to sleep. Then again, these people had offered her food and a temporary place to sleep, so she didn't feel she had the right to complain.

"You hoping I'll be of some help?" She asked those who were in the car. Raven was flying outside the car so that Jan could ride inside.

"I heard you were pretty good at fighting the other day. Startled Cinder Block, at least." Robin replied.

"Yeah, well, that was different."

"How? Cinder Block was bigger. This is just a thief. You should be able to deal with him, right? You got all those cool moves."

"How would you know? You weren't even there."

"I heard from Cyborg! You just shot off and knocked 'em down! You'll do fine."

_'It's still different...'_ Jan thought persistently. She was different when she had fought with Cinder block, and in all honesty she didn't fully remember that fight.

As they got closer to the origin of the thievery, everyone started looking out the windows. Then they saw a shadow leap over the streets. Robin made an exclamation, and Raven flew after the shadow immediately. Everyone got out of the car except for Cyborg, who followed the thief via the streets. Jan kept up with everyone else, finding that maneuvering the streets was just as natural as it had been before. She and Robin found an easy way onto the roofs while keeping up with the thief's pace.

Starfire managed to stop the thief on a roof, and everyone else caught up to them there. It was quite an interesting scene to watch. The thief was someone called 'Red X', and his suit was a black body suit with a belt and a cape. His face mask looked like a skull without the bottom jaw. Jan really liked it, but his presence only served to annoy the Titans.

Jump and twist, dodge and disappear, the thief easily outmaneuvered the superhero team. It seemed every weapon he had was based on his name, and each X that he produced from his palms served a different function.

Starfire shot bolts at him, but he dodged and disappeared from view, only to appear at her right and throw an adhesive X at her. She screamed as she was thrown back and onto a water tower. Then Robin came to preoccupy X, and the two's similar form of fighting was almost like a dance- until Robin's feet got tied up. A pterodactyl came to swoop at X, but he stepped easily away, grabbed the dinosaur's wing, and threw it into the water tower. The water tower exploded and thoroughly soaked everyone on the roof.

Jan was not too happy about being soaked, but she shook her hair as if it would dry and set like Robin's hair tended to. As it was, it just settled back to how it was before. As Cyborg tried shooting at X with his sonic cannon, Jan decided to run at X and catch him from the side. He sensed her approaching, however, and jumped out of the way before she could tackle him.

Seeing the new girl, Red X engaged with Jan. The two traded blows, Jan not acting too aggressively but trying to catch him off-guard. Robin came in from nowhere and tried to tackle X from the side, but the masked thief disappeared before Robin reached him, and Boy Wonder almost rolled off the roof. Jan glanced around, trying to figure out where X had gone, but hands closed around her wrists and held them behind her back.

"The Titans have a new pet?" Asked the modified voice at her ear.

"Don't get too curious," she said, struggling to free her wrists.

"Well, at least this one's cute." She could hear the smile in his voice.

Jan threw her head back into the mask and then kicked at him. He avoided her easily, but her hands still weren't free. Looking back, Jan saw one of those Xs on her wrists. Angrily, she tried to get free of them while the Titans preoccupied X again.

Cyborg shot his cannon at X, but X, as always, was too fast. Robin was back up on the roof and ran after Red X, and the two sparred. It looked like sparring from where Jan was standing, anyways. Kick, weave, punch; these two were matched hit for hit. They fought so alike that Jan wondered if she could tell them apart if they had switched costumes.

Starfire came to Jan's aid and burned away the binding on her wrists. After thanking the kind girl, the two ran towards the fight. X was beating them with ease, and if they didn't tie him down somehow, he was going to get away.

"Where are your abilities? Can you not use them?" Starfire asked.

"What do you mean?" Jan quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Last time you found those metal pieces, and they exploded."

Jan made a face at Starfire. She had done what? She didn't remember that! Then again, there was that weird trick she did with the mirror that distorted everything. Perhaps she could find something like that around here.

Jan jumped in at an odd angle and pushed X towards Starfire. Starfire, in turn, used her starbolts. Those missed, and she chased him further with a burst from her eyes. X jumped out of the way, but went after Jan. The two traded blows again, this time with Jan more aggressively inclined. She managed to pin one of X's arms and headbutt him. Although he stumbled back, it wasn't for long, and he was able soon enough to turn and bind Beastboy yet again. Cyborg was quickly stuck to the ground with an adhesive X for just charging his cannon.

Jan could feel the end of the battle coming. There weren't enough people here to surround him and make sure he wasn't going to flee. Robin was more than frustrated at this, which Jan understood. It was his job to catch bad guys like this. But Jan also wondered at this encounter. X, during the latter half of this fight, seemed almost furtive, avoiding Jan's blows.

Starfire and Raven kept X busy while Jan and Robin took a couple of breaths. They looked at each other for a moment, and then sprang into action while X was thrown into the air. Predictably, he disappeared while he was flying. He appeared behind Jan, but she wasn't fast enough to ward off his kick, which sent her flying over the edge. For a moment, she saw Robin jump on the thief, trying to detain him. Then she curled up in a ball before she crashed through a large window.

The shattered glass didn't hurt her too much, but she knew the scratches would annoy her even after she got clean. After a pause to see whether or not she would fall further, Jan got up. She looked around her, noticing that the room seemed to be a building in the making. This room was still being built, and there were construction parts scattered around the floor.

She shook her hair, somewhat like a dog, to scatter the glass that had made its way on her head. It settled again, and she began brushing herself off. It was quiet outside, she noticed. A moment after she noticed this, however, she heard a frustrated shout from Robin. He must have lost X.

"Not to be nosy," X's voice said conversationally from behind her, "but what's a thief doing among heroes?"

Jan turned around, distrusting of X. He didn't move toward or away from her, however. This was just fine for Jan. She was curious as to what he just said.

"What do you mean?"

"You're Jan, the many-faced thief. I have a few bones to pick with you, but at the moment, the most important thing to me is the hope that you'll quit stealing my jobs."

"What the hell are you going on about?" She suddenly burst angrily. Why was someone else remembering her past better than her? "I don't remember being a thief."

"Oh, you can't disguise yourself from someone who's good at disguises."

"Coming from someone with bright red X on their chest, I think I'll take that opinion with a grain of salt."

There was a moment's pause as both of them heard Robin telling the freed Titans to search around the immediate area. Red X began backing up into the darker parts of the room.

"Your roots are showing." She could hear the smirk in his voice. "Listen, if you ever remember the thrill of thievery, maybe you could find me, and we could go out and steal something together."

Just as he vanished, Robin came in the window, Starfire flying in after him. Her light lit up the darkest corners. No one was there.

Jan's mind was functioning a little slowly. She was wondering over the possibility of her actually being a thief. If she was one, then friendship with the Titans would be difficult. A part of her liked that. Also, did Red X just ask her out?

"Was he here?" Robin asked, glancing at Jan with worry.

"Not anymore." Jan said after a moment.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong? No, just… confusing. I'll talk about it later."

"Alright, well…" Robin sighed. "So he got away again."

"What is it he took?" Starfire asked curiously, allowing her light to dim.

"Another piece of technology. This one could be used to enhance his belt." Robin frowned.

"Oh." Starfire said a little quietly.

"Come on, let's go." Robin sighed, turning just before his and Starfire's communicators went off again. Robin flipped his open. "We got more trouble."

**Shieb: Already chapter 8. Wow. Or, not already, depending on your point of view. Not too exciting, I don't think, but I'm trying to develop a few things here. X is going to make things a little more interesting, I promise.**


	9. Old Habits

Starfire picked up Robin, leaving Jan to fend for herself. Being almost five floors up, she knew it was ridiculous to just jump down. She wondered for a moment how she was going to deal with these people with superhuman abilities. She was not on their level. But then her thoughts went to earlier comments. Robin relaying how she had forced down Cinder Block with her sheer strength, Starfire describing how she had manipulated the metal pieces in the warehouse, and Red X, telling her she was a many-faced thief. Jan didn't remember any of this, but she figured there had to be truth to some of it. Perhaps instinct would help her?

Jan leaned over the edge of the building, examining the height. She saw a streak of light all down the building. The entire side of it was made of windows. The girl remembered the mirror in the hospital room. Then, without thinking much, she jumped.

A part of her was frightened that she had just created her own death. But a calm overtook her, and Jan's feet touched the windows. As if taken over by an overwhelming habit, her body shifted to a position of someone who was unconcerned with the fact that she was sliding down the side of a building. She noticed her feet were on the windows as if they were the ground. As she came closer to the pavement, she willed herself to slow down, and she stopped three feet from the pavement. Hands in pockets, she stepped onto the sidewalk and looked up to see a mix of expressions. Some were impressed, others assured, and still others had their mouths gaping (Beastboy).

They got into the car, Starfire flying this time, and drove off to their new spot. There was another thievery at a bank. This time it was someone called Doctor Light. He looked like a man who had gone through his middle-aged crisis and come out of it by dressing up like a light bulb. He wasn't all that bright, either. The light bulb on his head lit up, but there wasn't actually a connection.

The light bulb seemed to circulate the power that Doctor Light was using to repel the Titans. Jan, remembering her earlier interactions with glass, flexed the glass so hard two minutes into the fight that the bulb shattered. Very suddenly, the whips and devices that Doctor Light had went dark. Only some of the Titans seemed to realize immediately what happened, but it certainly made the arrest very quick.

On the way back, Jan was feeling rather proud. She got praised for her help. Beastboy asked how she had slid down the building like she had. He was disappointed, though, because Jan couldn't explain it. She had to shrug and say she just did it.

By the time they got to the tower, Robin seemed deep in thought, but he accepted suggestions from the team. Jan was surprised to hear they were interested in seeing just how good she was by having her train with them. There was no mention of her becoming a part of the team, but she had certainly caught their attention.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" Robin asked as they were exiting the garage.

"Oh, right." Jan remembered.

She felt her cheeks heat up just a bit. How would anyone take this? Then she had to consider that this was Robin and a team of crime fighters that she was talking to. Would it spoil things if she told them she was supposedly a thief? Maybe she should just gloss some things over… If she could.

"X said some strange things after I was kicked into the building." Jan continued.

"You shouldn't always trust what a thief says."

"Right." Jan said a bit nervously. "Well, he said things like 'your roots are showing' and stuff. X seemed to know something about who I was before."

Robin took in what Jan would call surprisingly well. He did not freak out or narrow his eyes at her, though he did look at her with consideration for a couple of moments. Afterwards, he kept pondering the subject and headed to his room.

"Is he always like that?" Jan asked Cyborg while she sat at the stool next to the kitchen.

"Only when there's something important going on through his mind."

Jan wondered if it was because of her. She was more nervous than before, she noticed. But she couldn't do much about it, to be honest. Leaving would just place any kind of blame on her at this point, especially if Robin thought she _was_ a thief. Still, if she were a thief before she lost her memories, then that would make her the person who was supposed to take the item from before, right? What happened between her and Slade, then? Did she take something he wanted? Did she do it to spite him? They couldn't be allies.

"Something wrong? You're looking pretty intense, yourself." Cyborg said, turning to Jan.

"Oh, I'm just a bit bothered. Red X said some strange things."

"You shouldn't listen to him." Cyborg said dismissively. "You're a new person here. It'd be a great opportunity for him to set us off-balance."

For some reason, this made Jan laugh.

"I'm not exactly a part of the team." She reminded him. "I'm just here until Robin can figure out whether I'm friend or foe, right?"

"No. Even if you were a thief then, you don't remember it now. We just want you to know where you're going before you leave."

"But I already told you-" Jan started, making vague hand movements.

"Something more specific than that." Cyborg continued, raising his voice above hers.

"Oi, Cy!" Beastboy shouted suddenly as he jumped into the living room. "Come play some games with me! I'll get that record this time, for sure!"

"Oh, you're on, little man!" Cyborg exclaimed, leaving Jan to her thoughts.

* * *

><p>Robin sighed. He leaned on the evidence table, his gloved hands spread on the flat surface. He raised his head to glance around at all the things that coated the walls of the room- newspapers, evidence, and such to remind him what was and what is a threat. Slade was everywhere in here. He was still at large, but something else might be closer to home.<p>

The subject of thought today was Jan. Robin picked up a small blade from the table. It was one of the few pieces of evidence he had from the multi-faced thief theory. He had scanned it thoroughly earlier, and everything had shown it was just a regular metal knife. So someone had needed to be able to manipulate its properties in order to make it do something like explode. This was exactly what Jan had done in the warehouse the other day, or so he had heard.

He was well aware that he had a tendency to get obsessive about things that eluded him, and he was certain this was not obsession. He had an inkling of what might have happened, and the more he thought about it, the more things made sense. This wasn't some far-fetched idea, like when Slade had managed to make him hallucinate after he was dead.

Before the Titans met Jan, they had come up with the multi-faced thief theory. Right after, there were three thieveries from different thieves in the same night. As Robin thought about it, it wouldn't be impossible for a single person to do all of that, though the timing would be very tight. After that, Jan appeared at the party celebrating the museum and research center. Anti-social actions aside, from what Robin now believed to be a moderately social person, Robin had never fully believed her story.

Now that Robin contemplated it, he realized that several of the thieves in the past six months used the same powers in different forms. He thought of the woman who took a thumbdrive of information. She had made her knives explode, as well as manipulated the windows.

"But if the three from that one night are all the same, how did she get into the wall vaults?" Robin muttered aloud.

The small holding boxes in the wall had been a security measure that no one but a select few had known about. They had been testing it. And then the thief came. Robin would bet anything that how the thief found that wall box would reveal a key part to her abilities. It would have to be something that would allow her to bypass appearances and regular restrictions. Perhaps it was a simple quality of the things she could see?

Robin examined the blade again. He set it down and viewed the rest of the items he had kept from the interactions he strongly believed were the same thief. They all gleamed back at him. Surely something _that_ simple couldn't be it. So he dismissed the idea and stood up, his eyes moving to the vault in the wall.

The next problem was Red X. This thief had been a pain in Robin's neck ever since he had somehow managed to steal the suit. X seemed to know something about Jan, and Robin felt Jan hadn't said everything about their small conversation. But Robin wouldn't be able to question Red X about Jan unless X was caught… The more he thought about it, the more catching X, even for only a small while, seemed the solution to some of his problems.

The golden apple of the situation, of course, was that finding out more about Jan would lead to her connection with Slade. If Robin could figure this out, he would be able to find Slade again. Then he could end that tyrant's threat to Jump City.

* * *

><p>Jan was just reaching her hand into a bag of chips when Robin entered the living area. He strode in with a purpose, and when Jan glanced about, she found that the others, Beastboy, Cyborg, and Starfire, were paying attention. They knew him well enough to know something was going on, Jan assumed. She wondered what it was. A guilty thought wondered if it was about her.<p>

"Where's Raven?" Robin said.

Just then, the door hissed open behind him and Raven floated in, a book in front of her.

"Good." Robin said promptly. "Now, listen up. I've decided we should focus on catching Red X."

"And how are we going to do that?" Beastboy said skeptically.

"Yeah. No matter how many times we go up against the guy, he kicks our butts with your weapons and then disappears."

His weapons? Jan paid closer attention, trying to figure things out.

"What we need is some way to lure him in." Robin pondered, starting to pace.

"An expensive object?" Starfire suggested.

"Maybe."

"He'd see it from a mile away." Raven sighed, walking to the couch.

"Well, he is quite the flirt." Starfire fumed.

"Would you be able to-" Robin started, a startled look on his face.

"I WOULD NOT!" Starfire exploded, her hair seeming like it was on fire.

"Ok…" Robin assured her in a soft voice.

"She's already denied him once already, right?" Jan said, drawing on the recent stories she heard about Red X.

"Yeah. I guess he wouldn't fall for it after that." Robin sighed.

"I could do it." Jan said before she had even thought about it. The intense look that she got back made her blush and look down at the floor. "Red X is a flirt, and we've only met once. I haven't made that much of an impression, considering I wasn't much help in the fight. I might be able to manipulate that."

Carefully, she looked up again. The people in the room were considering it. Starfire was still angry in a corner. Raven's look was steady as always. Cyborg had a slight frown on, and Beastboy huffed a sigh.

"That wouldn't be any more use than putting a shiny object in an abandoned room." He said.

Jan shrugged.

"Maybe. But he's probably expecting that. He thinks he knows me from somewhere. I might be able to use that, too."

"He knows you?" Beastboy suddenly, sat upright, shocked.

"Weren't you paying attention earlier?" Cyborg said, shaking his head.

"Alright. If we tried this, how would you get close to him?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure." Jan replied, choosing her words carefully. "But I know he wouldn't trust me if I was just a friend of the Titans."

"I don't think he would trust you even if you weren't." Raven said flatly, acknowledging his highly distrusting nature.

"He might be able to relate better to another thief." Cyborg suggest. Jan thanked him in her head.

"Relate, yes. But trust?" Starfire put her opinion on the table.

"If there are other suggestions, I would really appreciate them." Jan said with a nervous smile. "I don't even know if I can steal anything properly."

* * *

><p>Vents were tight, unyielding places. You couldn't turn around properly in them, and if you had to go through an air vent that was connected to a room, you had absolutely no space to even turn your head. It was hard to get into most of them, and Jan's least favorite part was getting out. They were very noisy, being only made of thin sheets of metal, but they still provided themselves to be the best unwatched pathways through most buildings.<p>

Following the schematics brought her above the room. It was scattered with different types of jewels on podiums and covered by glass, which she could see from the vent. She couldn't see the one she was after from here, though. It should be in the southwest corner.

_"You're weak."_ Echoed a voice from nowhere. Jan shook it off, and the image of someone walking away with it. As much as she wanted to know who she was, she didn't want it to get in the way of this job. And suddenly, this vent was more stifling than before.

Jan lifted the vent cover and set it across from the hole. Slowly, she lowered herself down through the hole, making sure to bend her body so that, eventually, she was holding herself parallel with the ceiling. Extremely glad of the gloves she was wearing, Jan reached onto her head and pulled down a set of glasses. Looking down again like this, she saw the little red lasers that were guarding the jewels from theft. Examining them a bit further, she saw the hole in the system.

She had to extend her arms somewhat and tuck in her legs so that she wouldn't hit the topmost layer of lasers. Then she swung a little bit, and let go, spinning in the air so that she could land in the only hole in the system. She paused for a second, listening hard as she crouched there. No sound but her heartbeat seemed to be there, so she stood partially, analyzing the lasers further for a moment.

Jump, crouch, slide across the floor. She ducked and weaved her way through the patterns that crossed their way about the room. Thank goodness her amnesia did not leave her without the grace and precision she had been previously capable of. Robin had helped her, of course, to master it a bit better. But if she blew this and touched a single laser… Well, it was safe to say that Robin had not set up this thievery.

It wasn't that Jan did not trust Robin, nor that she was trying to take advantage of his trust. She knew that if she were caught here, Robin would be all over her for doing something she didn't tell them about. But Jan did not believe that Robin's methods would win X over. If the Titans were there every time to let Jan slip just out of their reaches, it would seem just as suspicious as them never being there. Jan had to compensate for the times the Titans would be there.

She made it to the southwest corner. Pausing in a small area clear of lasers, she looked around again. Now she could see her prize. It was a clear stone encasing a small bit of metal. This metal, though not yet formally named, was scanned by scientists in order for them to synthesize a copy metal. Jan, realizing her affinity for shiny objects, decided a piece of this extra-strong metal might just suit her fine.

She jumped over to it, taking every care to not touch anything. Once she stood before it, she felt as if the easy part had just been finished. Jan stripped her hands of the tight-grip gloves and shoved them onto her belt. Then she took a small, sharp metal disk from a compartment in her belt. She took its edge and carved a hole in the glass casing, and then reached in with both hands, feeling like a person manipulating some radioactive substance. Only she was missing the gloves.

Carefully, Jan grabbed the metal that looked like it had been frozen in amber. The sharp disc was placed carefully under the frozen metal, replacing its spot on the pressure plate. Despite the disk's small shape, it was extremely heavy, and easily took the place of Jan's prize.

As Jan pulled away carefully, she was surprised to know that the metal was about as light as she thought the casing would be on its own. She looked at it for a moment in wonder before a glint caught her attention. Jan looked, and immediately felt like a bad child. She saw a beautiful jewel, opaque in appearance, which only drew her in more. Maybe just one more object wouldn't make a difference.

The opaque jewel was right next to her podium, and it was easy enough to slip to the side. She examined the casing and how it was set up. There were a series of wires connected to it, each one probably monitoring something. After a couple of moments, she figured she knew which one she needed to cut, and pulled out a quarter from her pocket. Using her ability, she smoothed the edge with her thumb to make it sharp and then cut a hole in this glass, too. She was careful to put the round piece of glass down where the lasers wouldn't sense it. Then she reached in with both hands again. One hand held the required wire, and the other made a quick series of motions to cut it.

She paused once the wire snapped. The room was still as quiet as before, but if anyone had seen her on the cameras, they would be coming down the halls now. So, quickly, she grabbed the jewel and took a small moment to examine it.

Glancing up, Jan could have sworn her heart froze for a second. She could see herself in what was left of the glass. The shirt and pants, as black as the rest of her outfit, were tightly fit to her body. There was a simple pull-over mask on her face, not as tacky as the standard ski-mask, but showing others rudimentary reflective lenses in the place of eyes and no mouth at all. She was about to shove both her prizes into the half-jacket's inside pockets when she saw the reflection of a masked figure in the glass, standing somewhere behind her. Sharply, Jan turned. She wondered at her sanity for a moment, because there was no one there.

Well, no matter. She needed to get out, anyways. Carefully, but quickly, she made her way back to the vent system, replaced the vent cover, and then took the short route to the outside. Jan dropped quietly onto the outside landing. This view was really quite beautiful. She was running along, about to make it to the exit point, when someone in a black suit dropped down in front of her.

Yes, this job was done in order to catch Red X's attention. It was still surprising to see X right there in front of her, his half cape, looking tattered at the edges, blowing in the slight breeze from this height. He made a self-confident noise, and then chuckled at Jan.

"You didn't think you could take my jewel and get away with it, did you?" He said, his ego just radiating off of him.

"I believe I already have." Jan replied, feeling the voice changer tickle. A costume just hadn't felt right without it, and she didn't want X to recognize her voice anymore than she wanted the Titans to.

"Is that what you think?" X chuckled again.

Jan glanced around as the warning lights began flashing red. From a distance, she could hear the alarms from the inside. Jan laughed too, finding this funny for some reason. In fact, it made things just a little bit more fun. Now she'd have to compete with him and the law enforcers posted in this building.

"Just when I thought I would get away clean."

"Hand over the jewel, and you can get away without much fuss," the boy said, holding out his hand as if things had already been decided.

"I'm a thief, not a kid." Jan lectured before deciding on something that would get anybody's attention- she jumped off the building.

It was another one of those skyscrapers. The city was full of these, and Jan quite enjoyed them. They made for excellent escape routes. To Jan's surprise, however, X appeared in front of her. He teleported in, lounging as if he were laying on a couch instead of falling from a tall building.

"Look, you're cute," he started without any real conviction, "but I want that gem."

"You mean this one?" She said innocently, pulling it out from her coat. Then she shoved it down her shirt.

"Don't tempt me." X warned. "I'm not afraid of doing anything to get a job done."

Jan tried out a girlish giggle, which might have been whisked away in the wind, and then turned in the air, adjusting herself so that she was speeding towards the windows. X tried to follow her, and just as she was reaching toward them, she felt his hand on her ankle. Now, if she went through the glass, he would go with her, so Jan was forced to crash through, and the two rolled along the ground until they managed to land in a crouch.

The easy thing for Jan to do at this point was head for the window again. But she couldn't do that at the chance that X would follow her. He reached to his belt to pull out a few Xs, which were thrown at her like throwing stars. Jan, miffed that she'd have to play with him for a little while, dodged while she began to worry. The alarm here was going off, so there was no doubt that the Titans would have their alarm going off as well. She could waste no time if she wanted to convince them it wasn't her. Guilt, and a fear of being chewed out by Robin, pushed Jan closer to X.

She had noticed, once before, that Robin and X looked similar when they were fighting. Now, she was strongly reminded of her training sessions with Robin as X's leg swooped over her head. As she came up again, a barrage of punches came at her, and she fended them off swiftly, adding in a kick of her own, which caused X to jump back. He grabbed for something at his belt again.

"I'll give you one last chance to hand it over nicely." his disguised voice said in mock kindness.

"I wish people would learn to stop giving me chances." Jan found herself saying, and then wondered at her own words.

"Oh well." Red X said happily, and then threw something at her feet.

She wasn't fool enough to look down. Instead, she tried to retreat as fast as she could, but the bright light that her arm was shielding her from was accompanied by an explosion, and she almost tripped over herself. The hesitation gave X the time to run up to Jan. Out of pure instinct, she swiped aside his strike and threw her palm against his stomach. A smoke bomb of her own allowed her to separate herself from him. Taking the moment X would need to reassert himself, she sprinted for the windows. In the reflection, she saw him just make it out of the white cloud, policemen entering through a doorway that was being kicked down. Then she jumped through, and rolled expertly in her own room.

**Shieb: Dynamic exit! Way to go, Jan, you're finding your thieving self again. I'm sure everyone's happy about this. Well, except for Robin, but he's being kind of a stiff. :/ And don't worry about Slade, he'll be showing up.  
><strong>


End file.
